


THUNDERSTRUCK - THE LAST OF US

by sensationalists



Category: The Last of Us
Genre: Character Death, Eventual Romance, F/F, Lesbian Character, Past Relationship(s), Sad Ending, Zombies, rushed ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-27
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-08-08 08:52:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 20
Words: 25,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16426250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sensationalists/pseuds/sensationalists
Summary: Jae Eun Park has grown up in the new apocalyptic world since the beginning, but the arrival of Ellie sets off a set of events that will change everyone's lives forever. After the group splits, Jae finds herself with Violet, Daniel, and Omar - three people that will force her to face the darkest corners of her minds, yet also show her the things she should cherish most in life.





	1. PROLOGUE

**Author's Note:**

> JAE EUN PARK PLAYED BY BAE SUZY  
> VIOLET FUMNAYA PLAYED BY MALAIKA FIRTH  
> DANIEL EMMETT BAUM PLAYED BY DYLAN O'BRIEN  
> OMAR TOBIAS DAKARAI PLAYED BY RAMI MALEK

 

**JAE EUN PARK HAD BEEN BEST FRIENDS WITH SARAH MILLER EVER SINCE KINDERGARTEN** , their friendship never had a dull moment partly due to Sarah's love of pranking people. Jae Eun, who everyone simply shortened Jae, and her family had struggled at first when they moved to Texas but after getting to know Joel and Sarah they slowly eased into life in Austin - apart from some rude names and stares.

 

After begging and pleading her mom for a whole week, Jae had been allowed to stay at Sarah's on a Saturday night. Jae's mom packaged all the necessary items and more (which meant she had to take extra loo roll - "you never know what could happen!" Her mom justified whilst stuffing it into the large backpack). Joel picked her up from her house, which was halfway across town, at 11 am and had taken the girls to the park. He smiled as they chased each other around the park, before yanking him over the swings to judge who could swing higher.

 

He left them at home when he went to work, and Sarah grabbed the present from underneath her bed. "Who's that for?" Jae smiled, leaping onto the bed and grabbing the knitted blanket.

 

"Dad," Sarah paused admiring the box, "wanna see it?"

 

"Of course!" Jae watched as Sarah slowly lifted the box to show a lovely, expensive watch.

 

"Woah. That looks so nice."

 

"He kept complaining of his broken watch, so I saved up for him." She smiled down at her gift, feeling proud of herself. They talked for a while upstairs, before getting bored and wandering downstairs to watch some television. Sarah plaited Jae's hair while watching old episodes of Spongebob Squarepants, and the house phone rang beside them. Standing up, Jae answered it to hear her Mom on the other side, "You okay, Jae Eun?"

 

"Yes, I'm fine mom. I haven't died." She cheekily replied, glancing over at Sarah who was intently watching the television.

 

"Don't use that tone!"

 

"Sorry!"

 

"It's ok. I was just calling to say goodnight and I love you. Be safe."

 

"Love you too, see you tomorrow." Jae hung up the phone and sat on the chair next to Sarah who was growing tired. "When is your dad coming home?" She asked, glancing up at the clock on the wall behind her friend.

 

"Soon, hopefully." Jae and Sarah had both unknowingly drifted off, as they woke up when they heard the front door shut and Joel on the phone. "Scoot," Joel said to his daughter, moving her to the right side of the couch.

 

"Fun day at work, huh?" Sarah hugged her legs tight to her body and Jae sat up comfortably in her seat.

 

"Why are you two still up?" He sighed, rubbing his forehead, "it's late."

 

"Oh crud, what time is it?" Sarah looked up at the clock, gripping onto the couch.

 

"It's way past you girls' bedtime."

 

"But it's still today." Sarah smiled.

 

Jae reached over to the table beside her and grabbed the little black box, passing it to Sarah. "Here."

 

"What's this?" Joel asked, taking the box from his daughter.

 

"For your birthday." Joel looked at both of the young girls in his room curiously but focussed back on the box opening it carefully. He reached out and fixed it onto his wrist. "Where did you get the money for this?"

 

"Me an' Jae sell hardcore drugs."

 

"That's right." Jae winked, giggling along with her friend's joke.

 

/

 

Jae slept on the floor in Sarah's room when they were both woken up by the phone ringing on the bedside table. Sarah picked up, "Hello?" Jae could only hear her friend who looked confused and sat up.

 

"What was that?"

 

"I don't uh- know. It was my uncle." She furrowed her brows and got off the bed. "Jae, we need to look for my dad." She reached her arm out to pull Jae up as they both gripped each other's hands.

 

They entered Joel's room, and the television was on. A female reported, standing in front of a burning building where many firefighters were gathered. "That's nearby," Sarah mumbled into her friend's ear, as they heard a loud boom. Shocked, they looked out their window to see a nearby explosion and fear struck both the girls. Billowing smoke came from the building, then the television cut to static.

 

"We need to find your dad." Jae pulled on her friend's hand, leading her downstairs. They heard sirens from outside and walked towards the sliding doors that opened up into the garden. As they approached, Joel came running in, forcefully shutting the door after him. "Sarah. Jae. Are you two okay?" He breathed heavily, his shaking hands grabbing the gun on the table.

 

"Yeah." The two echoed, following the movements of him.

 

"W-what's going on?" Jae asked, walking over to the table, and peeking out the door.

 

"Has anyone come in here?"

 

"No, who would come in here?" Sarah replied, confused. Jae stood in front of the door and only being able to see the reflection of the room, she held her hands up to see what was outside.

 

"Stand back from the door, Jae," Joel warned, instead she only squinted.

 

All happening very quickly, she saw the next door neighbor run towards her and through the door, pinning her down. Joel stepped back, "Jimmy, get off her."

 

Jae screamed loudly, tears were pouring out of her eyes in fear. "Help, please. Joel, help me."

 

With a deep breath and a shaky hand, Joel shot at him and he fell down with a thump next to Jae. "Sarah, go out front. Tommy's waiting for us."

 

"But-"

 

"Go out front, I'll be there in a minute."


	2. TWENTY YEARS LATER

JAE AND TESS JOGGED THROUGH THE STREETS OF THE QUARANTINED CITY, gripping onto the ration cards tightly.

"I wonder if Joel's gonna be up," Jae speculated, addressing Tess as they walked up to his 'apartment'. Tess just shrugged and banged on the door. A gruff voice replied, followed by heavy footsteps approaching the door. He opened it to let them in, shutting the door behind the two girls. Jae gave him a small smile, but he hardly returned it - a forced one with gritted teeth.

"How was your morning?" Tess asked, grabbing herself a glass of whiskey. It was met with a grunt from Joel, as Jae walked over and sat herself down on the makeshift bed over by the window.

"Well we have some interesting news for you," Jae spoke, her voice sounding more confident than it did when she was younger. The apocalypse had destroyed so much over the course of these years, but you would never survive without confidence.

"Where the hell were you two?" Joel replied, his voice louder than the two girls and on the verge of shouting.

"West End district," Tess returned, barely batting an eyelid as she took a big swig from the glass.

"We had a drop to make," Jae Eun looked up at Joel, who was grabbing something from the cupboard.

"Yes. We." He emphasized.

"You should have been awake earlier then," Jae replied snarkily, as Joel passed a rag to Tess, whose forehead was cut and bleeding.

"So let me guess, the whole deal went south, and the client made off with our pills," He returned to the kitchen area and leaned on the table, glaring at the two girls.

Tess scoffed, "The deal went off without a hitch. We have enough ration cards to last a couple of months easy."

"You wanna explain this?" Joel pointed at Tess' face, his eyebrows furrowing.

"We were on our way back here, and we got jumped by two assholes. Lucky Jae was lurking behind and could surprise them." She nodded at Jae, thanking her silently.

"Do you know who they were?" Joel grabbed the rag off Tess and pressed it against her forehead, stemming the bleeding.

"No they were a couple of nobodies, but that- that doesn't matter. Guess who sent them?"

"Robert," Jae answered, shaking her head.

"Our Robert?" Joel stepped back, flinging the cloth onto the side.

"He knows we're after him." Tess shrugs, grabbing the rag and pressing it against her own forehead, "And he thinks he can get us first."

"That son of a bitch. He's smart."

"But he's not smart enough," Jae smiled, effectively announcing her plan to the room, "I know where he's hiding."

Joel raised an eyebrow, trying hard not to crack a smile, "Like hell you do."

Jae stood up, walking over to the roundtable, raising an eyebrow in a challenge to Joel, "Old warehouse in area 5. Not sure for how long."

"I'm ready now." Joel sauntered to the front door, with Tess following him instantly.

"I guess we're going now, then." Jae grinned as they slammed the door behind them, marching out of the apartment.

 

/

 

"Checkpoint's still open, but we only got a few hours left until curfew," Joel muttered, as they walked through the streets.

"We better hurry up then." Tess led them, navigating her way through the dirty alleyways, seeing the 'Attention' sign that announced the main road. They jogged along, Jae curiously staring at all the armed soldiers walking up and down, snipers up in the rooftops ready to fire at anyone who displayed disobedience.

Jae saw the checkpoint and sped up to catch up to Joel who was now walking in front. Joel and Jae had managed to stay together throughout these twenty years, at first, it was difficult - they were both raw from Sarah's death and they had no idea how to navigate the broken society. But the apocalypse was no place for emotions, you had to do what you had to do to survive. Jae was not keen on adopting that mentality but after a harsh winter when they were all (Tommy included) forced to turn to smuggling, she realised that she was not going to survive and so, over these past years, she had lost all innocence and could be just as harsh as Joel when it came to people who did her wrong. And Robert was one of those people.

They walked up to the counter when the tank that had been crawling along beside them, suddenly exploded and the gates to the outside were quickly shut and the trio were told to move back and away.

"Goddamn Fireflies," Joel grunted, as they sprinted back into the protection of the buildings. They entered the biggest building of them all, with an American flag draped over it. 'Ironic' Jae though every time she entered.

"We're gonna have to go around the outside." Tess sighed, looking around the building and passing a knife to Tae.

"How's the east tunnel looking?" Jae asked James, a relatively friendly guy who she had helped out a couple of times.

"Good. It's clear, I just used it. No patrols." He led them through the building. "Where you off to?"

"Gonna pay Robert a visit."

"You too?" James raised his eyebrows, leading them down to the tunnel.

"Who else is?" Tess wondered as Jae asked that exact question.

"Uh, Marlene. She's been asking around, trying to find him."

"Marlene? What do the fireflies need with Robert?" Jae looked at Joel, who shrugged his shoulders in response.

He led them straight to the tunnel, and Tess and Joel got in first but Jae held back.

"Hey, James. Stay out of trouble." She smiled, throwing one last look back at him before she followed the others down the hole.

 

/

 

After finding their way out of the building, Jae had grabbed more ammo for her small gun. Fighting off clickers weren't really her thing, she was better at dealing with the humans. Mainly due to her ability to fight with bare hands and knives. Guns were loud and impractical, although a human with a gun cannot be easily defeated with just a knife. But people knew about Jae's ability and stealth, so it was a handy resource for ration cards to sell her services. She left the zombie fighting to Joel and Tess, and always stayed in the middle or hung back.

Finally making their way to Robert's and moving through his camp, they came face to face with his little 'army' of men who were brandishing their weapons. "You guys need to turn around and head back, if you know what's good for you," He snarled.

"We just want Robert," Tess explained, standing her ground.

"Turn the fuck around and leave now."

"I'm not going anywhere without Robert," Tess said firmly, squaring up to the larger man, but keeping her distance.

"Bitch, I will beat your dumbass skull unless you turn around and leave," He threatened, slowly inching closer to them.

"Fuck this," Tess groaned and had no queries in shooting him straight in the face. Joel shot the other guy in the head but his aim was slightly off on the third, only managing to hit his right hand, making him drop his gun. Jae jumped on him, punching him once in the face knocking him down onto the floor before plunging her knife into his throat.

As Tess brushed past, she congratulated Jae quietly. Joel and Jae met Tess when Tommy left them for the fireflies, and they were in need of someone to help do the dirty work. At first, Jae wasn't fond of her harsh nature, very similar to Joel, but after being stuck in a tight space with her for over twelve hours, she had grown to appreciate her company.

The trio climbed over the metal gate and found a frantic Robert shaking a metal gate. "Hello, Robert." Tess smiled.

"Tess. Joel," He looked down at the smaller girl, "Jae," He sighed, knowing that the young girl - well not that young, considering she was now 27 - had led to his demise. "No hard feelings, right?"

Tess bent down to reach a metal pole lying on the ground, "None at all." Robert turned, preparing to run, but Tess hit him hard on the back of his knees, sending him sprawling.

"Look, whatever it is you heard, it ain't true. Okay? I just wanna tell you-"

"Where are the guns?" Tess circled him, menacingly.

"It's complicated-" Robert began to respond, before Joel stamped on his face, "I uh- sold them."

"Excuse me?" Tess scoffed, as Jae began to shake her head behind her.

"I owed someone!"

"You owed us. I'd say you bet on the wrong horse," Tess glared, looking down at the man.

"I just need more time- a week-"

"I might have done that if you hadn't tried to kill Jae and me."

"Who has our guns?" Jae asked, sharpening her knife on a nearby wall.

"I can't say-" Jae pushed her knife into his leg and he began to scream, she only pushed it deeper. "It's the fireflies- FIREFLIES! STOP."

Shaking her head, Tess stood up from her kneeling position, and for the second time that day she pulled the trigger and planted a bullet in his head.

Jae tugged her knife and stuck it back in her holster, "Let's go find a firefly, then."


	3. I NEED SOMETHING SMUGGLED OUT OF THE CITY

"YOU WON'T HAVE TO LOOK VERY FAR" a voice sounded behind them, causing them to turn around. Standing before them was an injured Marlene, who was gripping her side with her left hand and a gun in her right.

"Queen Firefly," Joel mumbled, looking her up and down.

"Why are you here?" She walked towards them, staggering slightly.

"Business," Tess nodded her head towards Marlene's side, "You aren't looking so hot."

Marlene shrugged, "Where's Robert?" Tess stepped to the side to reveal a very, very dead Robert with a pool of red blood surrounding his head, as Marlene shakes her head, "I needed him alive."

"The guns he gave you, weren't his to sell. I want them back."

"It doesn't work like that, Tess."

"Like hell, it don't. I paid for those guns. You want 'em back? You're gonna have to earn them."

"How many cards?" Jae asked, grabbing the cards out of her trouser pocket.

"I ain't talking about cards. I need something smuggled out of the city. If you do that, I'll give you the guns and then some."

Jae and Joel exchanged looks, and Jae steps forward, "How do we know you got 'em? The way I hear, the military's been wiping you guys out."

"You're right about that. I'll show you the weapons." Marlene agreed, before a soldier's radio crackled out the command to search the area. They shared looks of slight panic, wondering where they could go. "Follow me." Marlene nodded, as she runs around the corner of the building.

She led them through a maze of buildings, somewhere Jae had never been before or at least remembered being before. After fifteen minutes of traveling, they reached a green door which Marlene needed help opening. Her and Joel both pushed on it before Marlene collapsed onto the floor in pain but the door opened anyhow, revealing a young brunette girl standing in the corner.

"Get the fuck away from her," The girl shouted, but Jae grabbed her arm, spotting the knife that was gripped tightly in one white-knuckled fist.

"Let her go," Marlene ordered, and the young girl snatched her hand from Jae's loosened grip.

"You're recruiting them kind of young, aren't ya?" Joel laughed, holding his hand out to help Marlene up.

"She's not one of mine."

The girl looks at Marlene, jogging over as her eyes take in her hip, "Oh shit, what happened?"

"Don't worry. This is fixable. I got us help," Marlene paused, looking around at the three people in front of her. She wondered if they could actually help her, but they were her best bet at ensuring they could get the girl to where she needed to be, "But I can't come with you."

"Well, then I'm staying."

"Ellie, we won't get another shot at this."

"We're smuggling her?" Joel queried, his eyebrows furrowing.

"There's a crew of fireflies waiting for you at the Capitol building."

"That's not close." Jae shook her head, looking at the young girl in front of her, unable to understand what was so special about her.

"You're capable," Marlene rolled her eyes at the Asian girl, "Hand her off, come back and the guns are all yours. Double what Robert sold me."

"Then where are they?" Tess demands.

"Back in our camp."

"Then we're not smuggling shit until we see them." Tess shrugged.

"Then follow me, you can verify the weapons and I can get patched up. But she's," Marlene pointed to Ellie, "not crossing to that part of town."

"I want Jae or Joel to watch over her."

As Jae and Joel both began to shake their heads, Ellie shouted over them, "Bullshit, I'm not going with them."

"Ellie-"

"How do you know them?" She questioned, looking at Jae up and down as if she were a piece of dirt.

"I was close with his brother, Tommy. Said we could rely on him if we were in trouble."

Tess pulled Jae to her side, "You two just take her to the north tunnel and wait for me there."

 

/

 

It didn't feel right traveling without Tess for Jae, she was always used to her sarcastic remarks and the only time they were usually apart was when she was asleep. While Joel had a room to himself, Tess and Jae shared often because they would wake early and go on missions together. Jae was fond of Tess, often looking up to her; but also because she was a completely different person when they were alone together. Jae initially thought it was because there was only a six-year age gap between the two. But Tess thought more of it than that, also enjoying Jae's company, but never admitting it.

Reaching the old apartment block, Joel ushered Ellie in quickly so that he could shut the door and no one would know they were in there. Joel laid himself down on the single couch in the room and Jae sat herself down in the corner of the room.

"Er- what are you two doing?" Ellie asked, looking at them both strangely.

"Killing time," Joel replied, in a monotonous voice.

"Well, what am I supposed to do?" Ellie asked, but Joel had already drifted off so she turned herself around to Jae.

Jae simply shrugged, sorting through her bag, "Do whatever you want."

"I'll go kill myself then." She sarcastically replied, rolling her eyes and sitting herself down across Jae.

"You can if you want, I don't need the guns." Jae made sure she glanced up at Ellie to make sure she could take a joke. She took all her knives out of the bag, cleaning the blood off of the blades.

"More of a knife fan?" Ellie asked, but Jae didn't reply, choosing to ignore the young girl, "Hey- don't ignore me!"

"Peace and quiet is rare, kiddo. With all politeness and respect, which is also rare, shut up." Jae continued sharpening her knives, occasionally looking over at Joel who continued mumbling in his sleep and Ellie had done nothing but pace around the room, annoying her new protector. "For fuck's sake, can you stop walking around and sit down."

"Calm down." Ellie snapped back in an angry tone, rolling her eyes and leaning against the doorway which led to the old kitchen.

"Don't talk to me like that." Jae raised an eyebrow, rising from her seat and getting up to check what's outside from the window.

"Stop ordering me about then."

"Ellie," Jae said in an impatient tone, "You are under mine and Joel's care. For the love of fucking God, follow our rules. I don't want you here as much as you don't want me to be here."

Ellie's eyes narrowed into slits, her teeth gritting together and annoyance running through her mind, barely able to reply, It's not my fault."

"Cool. I'm gonna sleep, don't stab me." Jae leaned against the couch, but despite all her tries she just couldn't sleep, her mind lingering on the girl she had to now protect. What was so damn special about her?

 

/

 

A while later, Jae got up, looking over at Ellie who had settled by the window. Jae assembled all her things into a backpack ensuring that knives were in easy access in case of attack. As she stared at Ellie, their conversation burned into her brain, why had Jae been rude to her? She was just a girl, born into this mess of a world and deserved a lot better. She sighed wondering what to do about her current situation, biting her lip she decided to be the better person.

Jae walked over to Ellie and extended an arm, "I'm Jae. Sorry about earlier kiddo," Unsure of what to do, Ellie shook the hand but did not say anything more and returned to looking out the window, "You can wake up Joel if you want."

Ellie wandered over but Joel was already awake, "You mumble in your sleep. I hate bad dreams." Outside, the rain was pattering down hard, and the full moon lit up the night sky, and the derelict buildings surrounding this city.

Joel ran his eyes over Jae, who was self-consciously rubbing her arms, and back to Ellie who had made that comment.

"Yeah, me too," he replied and got up and walked over to the window where the two girls were standing.

"You know," Ellie said to no one in particular, "I've never been this close. To the outside. Look how dark it is." Joel lit a lantern that lay on the table next to the couch he had been laying on. "Can't be any worse out there, can it?"

"What on earth do the Fireflies want with you?" Joel questioned.

"Hey," Tess muttered as she slipped through the door. Jae smiled brightly at Tess, and gave her a small hug which, as usual, was only half returned, "Sorry it took so long," Tess continued, "Soldiers fuckin' everywhere."

"How's Marlene?" Joel asked, rubbing his face.

"She'll make it." Tess nodded, "I saw the merchandise, it's the lot. Wanna do this?"

"Yeah, let's go." Joel led the group, into the next room and out the windows into the cold, dark night. They made their way out of the building via an old lift, Jae making use of knives along the way to kill any soldiers that were lurking in the shadows and finally they made it out to solid ground where the rain became annoying and could possibly slow the group down. But it wasn't the rain that slowed the group down, it was a bunch of soldiers that ambushed them and lined them up.

"Shit," Jae mumbled, searching for a hidden knife, but there were none. Her only hope laid with the other three, praying they had a plan. The soldiers scanned the back of the necks, looking for infection; Tess went first, no infection and Joel followed, no infection then Jae after, no infection. As they moved onto Ellie, the girl squirmed in her position, as the scanner pressed the back of her neck, but in one rapid movement she picked the knife from his leg and stabbed him in the calf. It quickly backfired though, as the soldier pushed her down and soon pointed his gun at her. With no moves left, Joel pushed the guy out of the way and pointed his own gun at him and Tess shot the other guy.

"Oh, oh fuck. I thought we were just gonna hold them up or something." Ellie sighed, clearly out of breath and leaning her back on a nearby crate.

Joel reached out for the detector and picked it up, a look of disbelief covering his face, "Look," he chucked it over to Tess who examined it, directing the screen towards Jae, who was next to her.

"Why the hell are we smuggling an infected girl?"


	4. YOU BETTER EXPLAIN FAST

"I'M NOT INFECTED." Ellie defended.

"No? So was this lying?" Joel chucked the piece of technology at her.

"I can explain."

"You better explain fast." Tess shook her head, looking over at Jae who was worriedly pacing between her and Joel.

"Look at this," Ellie rolled up her sleeve and pointed, "it's three weeks old."

"No, everyone turns within two days. So you stop bullshitting." Tess pulled out her gun and shook it as her hand moved.

"It's three weeks," Ellie sounded each vowel, "I swear. Why would she set you up?"

The three exchanged looks, Jae looked over at the worried girl as she wondered as if she could, possibly be telling the truth but Joel was the first to shake his head, "I'm not buying it." He turned to his left and saw something in the distance, two bright lights heading this way, "oh shit" he said once he saw it was a car.

"Tess, Jae, run. Now." Joel shouted at them, as Tess and him ran in front Jae made sure to hoist the teenager up and drag her with them. As they made their way through the wasteland, they headed underground to gain protection in the darkness. They continued through a pipe, that was filling with water until they reached the end. A gate blocked their way but Tess and Joel barged into it three times, knocking it to the floor.

Tess knelt beside Ellie whilst Jae caught her breath on the wall behind them, "now what was the plan? Let's say that we deliver you to the fireflies, what then?"

"Marlene," Ellie paused, "she said they have their own little quarantine zone. With doctors there, still trying to find a cure."

"We've all heard that before." Jae rolled her eyes, scoffing at the thought.

Ellie ignored her and continued, "and that, whatever happened to me is the key to finding the cure."

"Oh. Jesus." Joel looked up at the sky, and Jae struggled to not burst out laughing at the thought.

"It's what she said."

"Oh, I'm sure she did," Joel said in a mocking tone, and Jae could no longer keep it in, her laugh spluttered out as she had a wide grin.

"Hey, fuck you, man. I didn't ask for this." Ellie spat at them, standing up and stomping towards Joel in defiance.

"Us neither. Tess, what the hell we doing here?"

"What if it's true?" Tess stood up to almost match the height of Joel, she had no problem being face close to him.

"I can't believe-"

"What if, Joel?" She paused and looked at the beautiful girl behind her, who looked as if she was lost in her own thoughts deciding what to do, "Jae? I mean we've come this far, let's just finish it."

"Do I need to remind you what's out there?" Joel said angrily, pointing at the empty space in front of them.

"I get it. Jae, let's go." Tess tugged on Jae's arm and walked off into the distance, with a guilty looking Ellie following. That night, they pushed through the destroyed city, Jae had no idea which one but it filled her with sadness to think of the thriving life here before, she soon blocked it out though with all the clickers running towards them.

Tess and Jae hung back, enjoying each other's silence and the occasional brush of each other's arms. "Do you think there is a cure?" Jae asked as she pushed a file cabinet out the way of a door. Tess remained silent, thoughts flying around her head as she helped Jae stay as quiet as possible so as not to disturb any creatures.

Pausing, Jae stopped behind the next door leaning her head against it and grabbing Tess' arm to prevent her from leaving. "Please, stay for a while."

"We can't, we have to go." Tess pulled her arm from Jae's grip, shaking her head.

"What if there is a cure?" Jae continued, holding that door shut preventing Tess from leaving.

"Then there's a cure."

"What happens though?"

"To who?" Tess finally stopped pushing on the door and faced the girl next to her. Her eyes running over her body and back up to the fresh cut on her forehead.

"To us," Jae gauged her reaction and added, "all of us." Tess only shrugged, and sensed that she would get no more talk out of her, Jae opened the door and they jogged after Joel and Ellie who hadn't managed to get far guessing by all the clickers that laid in front of them.

They left one tower block, only to be met with fresh zombies they managed to hold some back but they soon realized they would have to cut them off. "Through here," Jae called as they reached a gate that had to be pulled up by a chain. Joel heaved it up as the three girls squashed themselves beneath it.

"Quick," Tess called as she single-handedly kept the gate open, he pulled himself through and she quickly let go letting it slam on the head below.

"Jesus." Jae breathed staring at the gate as if she could see all the creatures behind it, scratching at the door. They all sighed, pushing on through the dark warehouse and eventually to the grassland of the old city running for any type of shelter that could keep them protected from the clickers or even the soldiers that would be coming to find them.

They eventually found the town hall that they had been looking for, Joel pushed open the door and they saw the dead fireflies laying on the floor, blood pouring out of them. "Shit," Jae shouted, punching the wall next to her.

"Well, what next?" Ellie said, looking around.

"What are you doing, Tess?" Joel asked Tess who was searching the bodies seemingly panicked.

"Maybe they uh- maybe they had a map or something to tell us where they were going." She sniffed, continuing on as Jae looked confused at someone who would usually remain calm in these situations.

"How far are we going to take this?"

"As far as it needs to go." Tess uttered in an exasperated tone, her voice breaking at the end. Jae walked over to Tess and placed a hand on her shoulder, but she only shook it off, "Where is this lab of theirs?"

"Oh. Somewhere out west. I believe next to one of the old universities." Ellie shrugged.

"What are we doing here? This is not us." Jae asked looking Tess dead in the eyes.

"What do you know about us? About me?" Tess stood up, pushing back Jae who was right next to her.

"I know you are smarter than this." Jae pointed her finger towards Tess, a bit stung but she held back any sort of emotion.

"Really? Guess what we're all shitty people. You, me and Joel. All of us are shitty people. It's been that way for a long time."

"We did it what it took to survive." Jae shook her head and looked towards Joel for some sort of back up.

"This is our chance-"

"It is over Tess," Joel shouted over her voice, silencing Jae as well who looked bewildered at Joel who hardly ever shouted at her. "Now we tried, let's just go home."

"I'm not," Tess paused, fiddling with her sleeve, "I'm not going anywhere. This is my last stop."

"What?" Jae asked, her head tilted to the side.

"Our luck had to run out sooner or later."

"What are you going on about-" Jae reached out for her shoulder again, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"No don't-" she ripped herself away from the girl, standing back, "don't touch me."

"Holy shit." Ellie said from across the room, looking Tess up and down, "she's infected."

Jae looked back, her eyes wandering all across her body, tears stinging her eyes as thoughts crossed her mind but all she could muster was shaking her head in denial. "Jae.."

"Let me see it," Joel said, stepping back as Jae stood there all frozen. Tess pulled back her collar and revealed a bright red wound and Jae choked on her tears as she covered her mouth. It all happened quickly for Jae she couldn't hear or see anything really only outlines as they moved across the room shouting at each other. When she came back to full attention, it was because Ellie was snapping her fingers in front of her face.

"You've got to get this girl to the Fireflies across the country, to their lab," Tess said, her eyes checking the window. As she turned away, a car could be heard in the distance and they all cursed under their breath. "They're here. You've got to go. I can buy you some time but you have to run."

Joel reluctantly turned around and beckoned Ellie to go with him. Jae shook her head, "Tess. Listen to me Tess," she grabbed her hand, "thank you. Thank you for looking after me, thank you for comforting me. I will never ever forget you, I can't leave you."

Tess rubbed her hand, "Jae-"

"No, no! I can't do it without you-"

"Goodbye." Tess shut Jae up and for a moment, they stared at each other but Tess pulled her in for a deep, quick kiss that was filled with so much emotion. Tears poured down their eyes as they gripped onto each other like no tomorrow, it was sloppy but it was so perfect. Heavy footsteps interrupted them, as Joel snatched Jae away with heavy screams and threw her over his shoulder, her head hitting the side of the door with a huge thump and knocking her out cold.

Then shots sounded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> decision to make tess bi is my best decision ever


	5. WHO ARE YOU?

WHEN JAE AWOKE THEY WERE IN A FIELD AND ONLY ELLIE WAS SITTING OPPOSITE HER, "W-where are we?" she asked, looking at her surroundings.

Ellie shrugged, "waiting for Joel. He's only been gone five minutes." Jae nodded, sitting up and thinking about what had happened. Her mind flashing back to that moment with Tess and she managed to choke a laugh at how pathetic she had become. "L-listen about Tess-"

"I don't want to talk about-" Jae was cut off by footsteps coming from the nearby area of trees, she picked up a knife from her bag and stood up.

"I'm coming out." A voice shouted from inside the bushes, "Please don't shoot. I'm unarmed." A hand poked out, a head and body following behind. A girl covered in blood stepped forward, her hands in a surrendered position.

"Who are you?" Ellie asked as Jae shielded her with her body.

"Violet. M-my group got murdered by a group of hunters up that way," she pointed towards the opposite way they had come from, "please; you can check me for bites and weapons." Jae held her knife out as she walked towards Violet. She checked her arms, legs, neck, and stomach for a bite but there was nothing so she nodded and stepped back to Ellie.

"What are you doing now then?" Jae asked as Violet came over to the campfire, sitting on the log opposite.

"I don't know," she shrugged, "I'm in need of some supplies, and I've not really been on my own in the apocalypse before."

"Who's that?" Jae heard Joel's voice before the footsteps as he emerged from the dense forest, carrying more supplies in his hands.

"Violet, her group was destroyed by hunters."

"Weapons?" He questioned, "bites?"

"Neither."

"Right." Joel nodded and passed two new knives to Jae, putting the gun in his own backpack. He turned to study the ebony girl standing in front of them, obviously afraid and alone with nothing. She was quite a skinny girl, probably due to the lack of the food and not a choice, with her natural hair springing out in all kinds of directions. She wore a black, wool top and jeans with what looked like a heavy green jacket on top but they had blood all over them making it look like she was the one who had been murdered. "What's the plan?"

"We need to take Ellie to the lab," Jae replied, pointing somewhat at Ellie.

"No, what's the plan with her?"

"I don't know."

"Can I come with you?" Violet asked, desperation seeping through her voice as she stepped forward, "You won't even know I'm here, and I'll only eat the leftovers. Please."

Joel and Jae looked at each other, both with raised eyebrows, "one second." Joel mumbled, holding a finger up to Violet and dragged Jae to the left so the others couldn't hear the conversation.

"We need someone to support us now Tess has gone." Joel reasoned, leaning on a nearby tree.

"Nope."

Joel sighed, rubbing his forehead with rough hands, "if she's useless, we'll leave her."

"She's not- she can't replace Tess." Jae felt herself breaking again, as she looked down and began to play with her fingers.

He looked down at the girl, somewhat shocked about her and Tess' relationship - he had never seen that coming. But he had also lost someone he loved, maybe a different kind of love, but still love and it hurt him too. Joel knew that they needed someone else with them, Jae was useless when it came to zombies and he didn't trust Ellie with a weapon - although why should he trust a new girl? He sighed again, deeper this time, trust was something that was built over a long period of time but why did he think he could trust this random girl? He didn't even trust Ellie, for God's sake! "She's not replacing Tess." He finally mustered out, looking over at the logs to see Violet and Ellie talking.

"Why the fuck do you trust her? Mr 'I don't trust anyone'?"

"Calm down," Joel seethed, "I- uh don't know." He sounded pathetic right now, and he knew it, he could literally hear it in his voice.

"Great."

"Look, what's the worst she can do?"

"Hm, I don't know- just murder us and the cure for humanity. Gee, Joel what a great fucking idea!"

Joel grabbed her by the shoulders, "Jae, shut your mouth. For one second think about the fucking survival rate here. She is a good idea."

"Look," Violet walked over to them, "if it's going to cause arguments I will go. Just please could I have some food to last me just a day."

"It doesn't matter, you're coming with us," Joel shrugged, "I'm giving you a gun but you are to walk in front at all times. If you try and shoot one of us, I will fucking torture you. Tonight, we'll take it in turns to guard you overnight and when we reach somewhere that you can leave us and be safe, you will go."

"Oh thank you so so much!" Violet jumped into the air with glee, hugging Joel who stood stiff and awkward. Violet loved human contact, something that she sorely missed during this wasteland. "That cut on your head," she pointed at Jae, "I can sort it out. I'm the closest thing to a doctor around here."

Jae's eyes burned into Violet's skull, her gaze not lifting as if she was dead behind the eyes finally she shrugged. "It's his fault." She walked off and towards Ellie who had been staring at the group.

"What have I done?"

"She uh- lost someone special," Joel shrugged and passed the gun to Violet, "we'll only be walking for a couple hours before dark."

 

/

 

They walked for a longer while than originally planned, finally settling down in an abandoned house, completely cleared of any sign of virus or soldiers nearby. Jae stood staring out the window at the full moon, only keeping one eye on the girl she was supposed to be watching. She thought of Tess, that one moment of passion shared between the two, of course, there had been other moments but that one meant so much. The thing that shook her the most was that she thought she was going to be the first to die, she never imagined losing anyone after she lost Sarah but she still didn't know how to feel about it. Sure, she felt sad and she wanted to cry but she didn't ache and hurt like she did with Sarah and the worst thing is she wanted to ache and hurt because that's what happens with the people you love, right?

"I can't sleep." A voice sounded from the couch, interrupting Jae's thoughts.

"Good for you." She muttered in return, getting up and stretching her legs.

"Do you know where we're headed?"

Jae rubbed her forehead, the cracked and dry blood around her wound crumbling onto her fingers, "Out West."

"I should really check your head out, you know. No need for an infection on such a small wound."

Growing tired and scared she would keep asking, "fine. The health kit is in my backpack." She grabbed some cloth and alcohol, along with a plaster.

"What happened?" Violet asked as they sat next to each other on the couch, both lit up from the shine of the moon.

"I uh- my head hit the wooden frame of a door." Jae always flinched when the cold alcohol touched her skin, stinging her.

"Sorry," she mumbled in return, "but how did that happen?"

"Don't worry." They sat in silence as Violet tentatively cared for her wounds, cleaning it out gently and eventually placing a plaster on it.

"There you go, I'll keep checking it every night until it clears to make sure the infection doesn't come back." Violet smiled and got off the couch, sorting out the med bag that Jae had left in a state. "You didn't tell me your name."

"It's Jae."

"That's pretty. What does it mean?"

She scoffed, "does it matter?"

"I think so. Every name has at least one meaning behind it. I mean my basic one is a flower, but my Mom chose it because the midwife who delivered me was wearing a headband was a violet flower on it."

"It means talent or ability. I'm named after my grandma." Jae would never admit it right now, but she was enjoying this conversation, she liked having someone to talk to but she also didn't trust this Violet girl. Who was this friendly in the apocalypse? No one.

"So what's your talent?" Violet laughed, but in a hushed voice seeing as Ellie and Joel were only sleeping in the next room.

"I'm not sure."

"Is she his daughter?"

"Do you usually ask this many questions?" Jae almost mustered out a laugh, as she checked the window for any sort of movement.

"Sorry," Violet laughed, "I guess I am one of the only friendly people left on the planet."

"I guess so," she paused as she leaned her head on the window, "you might want to sleep we have to walk a long way tomorrow."


	6. KEEP YOUR EYES FOCUSSED ON THE ROAD

ONCE VIOLET HAD FALLEN ASLEEP, Jae swapped with Joel so that she could get some sleep too. She thought back to a time where she could dream of rainbows and unicorns it wasn't like that anymore. It wasn't nightmares, you just didn't dream. Probably because you got woken up so easily, and were never in a state of deep sleep.

"Ready to go?" Joel had shaken her awake, passing her a drink of water, "So she sorted your head out then."

Jae nodded and took the water from his hand, "thank you." Joel stayed in the room, staring down at Jae who laid on the bed, her hair all messy. "Is there a reason you are staring at me like that?"

He shook his head and walked out, "finish the drink and be out. We can't waste any time."

Jae brushed her hair back and finished the water with a 'gulp', she threw on her backpack and jogged out to the main living space where Ellie and Violet were gathered, talking amongst themselves. Joel was standing over by the door, cleaning his gun out and gathering more ammo from the bookcase. "Let's head west then!" Violet said with a big grin, causing Jae to raise her right eyebrow.

 

/

 

Violet and Jae found themselves walking next to each other, behind Joel and Ellie despite his orders to stay in front. It was a step too far to say they trusted her, but if her personality was all an act, she deserved an oscar. "Where are we actually going?"

"West," Jae replied, her knife remained tightly gripped in her hand, staying alert at all times.

"Where?"

"To the fireflies, alright? Keep your voice down, and stop asking so many questions."

Violet stayed silent for a bit after that, she was scared inside and visibly on the outside too, her hands shaking constantly and the gun was hanging loosely in her left hand. She kept glancing at Jae who could see Violet from her peripherals, "keep your eyes focussed on the road." she had noted, making Violet become embarrassed and she was certain that if she attempted to reply, it would come out in squeaks and that's if it came out at all.

They walked through the countryside which meant an absence of soldiers and only clickers and runners attacking them. "Sure would be nice to have a car right now." Violet had sighed, looking longingly at the rusty cars they were passing. The others had ignored her but eventually Violet engaged in a conversation with Ellie, both laughing occasionally leaving Joel and Jae both scowling at them. Jae was leading the group now, with Joel not so far behind her leaving the other two girls chatting and laughing behind them.

"Oh yes talk as loud as you can, I would love for something to atta-" Jae sarcastically said, not seeing the man who was hiding behind the car. The man jumped out knocking Jae to the ground, and the other group members held their weapons ready to attack.

"Give me your food and weapons or I'll kill her." The man shouted at the group, he knew what he was doing was crazy. How could he take on a group of four? Although death didn't seem such a bad option at this point, considering he had been starving for the past two days and the only weapon he had was this stupid knife.

"Fucking shoot!" Jae ordered as she fought to get their knife out of their hands, her own being knocked a few feet away from her. Violet watched in panic as she found out her gun was unloaded, and Joel's had become jammed unable to shoot.

"Where are the bullets?" Violet asked, but everything happened in slow motion as the hunter stabbed Jae in the side and Joel managed to unjam his gun and shot the hunter in his shoulder, pushing him off Jae with some force.

Joel menacingly walked over to him and pinned him to the car he had hidden behind, "that was a big mistake buddy," he used his gun to shoot him in the kneecap, "now you're gonna die, and it's going to be fucking painful."

Violet had knelt beside Jae whose face was contorted with pain, was manically gripping her side tears pouring out of her eyes. Jae had never been shot or stabbed before, both Joel and Tessa had always taken the bullet or blade for her and protected her severely and Jae could not believe so much pain could come from such a small blade. When Joel had been shot or stabbed, you could never even tell his face always remained stiff and strong, completely unaffected but it really fucking hurt. She bit her lip tightly, almost drawing blood conscious that if she started screaming who knows what would be attracted, she felt wetness on her cheeks and realized that tears were starting to drip out of her eyes. "It's okay." Violet removed her hands and placed her hands on the wound pushing down tightly. "We uh- we need to get to get to shelter, but I need a cloth to cover it now."

Ellie dug into her backpack grabbing the cloth from it and chucking it at Violet, "what about the hotel we passed on the way here? It's only five minutes away." The three nodded, as Joel lifted Jae up into a bridal carry as they made their way over to the abandoned hotel.

Jae was conscious the whole time, but her eyes were blurry and the only thing she was able to see was Joel's beard and she could feel his strong arms supporting her but apart from that it was a blur. The pain searing through her body like a hot flame throbbing, the cloth that was tied tightly was not doing its job of stopping the bleeding. When they reached a room the hotel, they raced into the nearest room and shut the door, blocking it with a wardrobe. Joel laid her down on the bed as Violet rummaged through the medical supplies, grabbing a needle and some thread along with alcohol and cloth.

"Have you done something like this before?" 

"Kinda." 

"Kinda?" Joel spat out, as he sat down in an old, torn up seat next to Jae.

Violet ignored him and began to pour the alcohol along the cut, as Jae screamed in agony, her hands trembling and her forehead freezing but damp with sweat. "It's alright." Violet soothed her, as she tried to be gentle when she rubbed her side. She had only observed people in her group do things such as this, their leader being a trainee doctor when the outbreak occurred but Violet was determined to save Jae despite knowing her for less than a day, she didn't want anyone else to die on her watch. 

"Joel, I'm gonna need you to hold her down for me." He obeyed, his calloused hands reaching out to settle her writhing body. Ellie watched on from the other side of the room and couldn't help but think that this situation could have been avoided if she and Violet hadn't been laughing and talking. 

"P-please stop now." Jae helplessly mumbled, as her eyes went blurry and she could only make out shapes, her free hand gripping tightly to Joel's shirt.

"You're almost there, Jae. You're doing good." Joel reassured her, he was uncertain that he was actually comforting her as he sounded stiff in his words and he hadn't acted this way for such a long time. Violet began to stitch up the wound, it was messy and sloppy but she tried her best and it seemed to stop the bleeding for the time being.

Joel had been so busy looking at Violet, and Violet so busy concentrating that they didn't realize that her whimpers and groans had stopped as Jae had fainted under the pain of what was happening. "Shit." Joel had mumbled when he realized, but he stood up from his position and began to pace around the room while Violet tidied up the mess she had made.

"What now?" Ellie asked, becoming concerned as she took in her surroundings. They were obviously in one of the cheapest rooms in the hotel, containing one bed, a small crappy bathroom that was mucky, disgusting and filled with all kinds of insects and a little couch next to a sink and table. The furniture was all torn up and the wallpaper looked to have been scraped down, the carpet stained with blood - old blood. 

"We wait for Jae to get better, and then we start moving again." Joel sighed, resting down on the heavily uncomfortable couch, its cushions as solid as rocks providing no comfort or relief.

"Do you have antibiotics?" Violet asked as she washed her hands with the water from one of the bottles in the bag.

"Yes, at the bottom of Jae's bag. Be careful of the knives."

"How long until she's better?" Ellie asked Violet, sitting herself down and resting her back on the wardrobe that was pushed up against the door.

"Hard to say. It could be a while, a maximum of a week. If it's any longer than that I don't think she'll be getting any better."


	7. TIME TO SAY GOODBYE

THEY ALL TOOK TURNS IN LOOKING AFTER HER DURING THE NIGHT, making sure that the flannel on her forehead was kept wet and fresh water in case she woke but she didn't. By the time the next morning came, they were all worried, "are you sure she's alive?" Ellie had asked at one point as they all stared at her.

"Have we even got enough food to last us a week?" She had also asked, no one replied but everyone in the room already knew the answer to that question. The room had begun to feel even tinier in such a small period of time they began to worry what it could become like in seven days. 

Eventually, after what seemed forever, her eyes began to flicker and slowly blinked open Jae's body immediately feeling the ache as the first noise she made was a groan. "W-water." She managed to croak out, as Violet rushed to gently hold her head as she sipped on the water. She became greedy and attempted to sit up to gulp down the rest of the bottle but her body wouldn't allow her and the pain came out in a hollow groan.

"Nope, lay back down," Violet ordered as she put the water back down on the table beside the bed. "You've been out for a day, we were worried."

Jae stared at the ceiling in response, her eyes becoming watery as the memory of what happened came back in a tidal wave overwhelming her all at once. 'When had she become this weak?' She asked herself, mentally shaking her head as she recalled all the screaming she had done. "H-how long am I going to be like this?"

"Hopefully about three days." Violet attempted to keep the cheerfulness up but it was becoming increasingly difficult with everyone else's pessimistic attitudes.

"Fuck no." 

"Just rest, we'll talk later." 

 

/

 

Ellie had accompanied Joel down to the kitchens and basement to see if there was any food left, leaving the two girls alone in the room. "Thank you." 

"It's no problem." Violet was sat at the end of the bed, her legs crossed and her jacket being used to comfort her back from the hard wood that pressed into her. "Bet you're glad Joel let me accompany you now, right?" She joked.

"It's only been two days." Jae had returned sounding rude, but Violet could see the evident smile on her face and knew that she was just going along with it. 

"I'm gonna need to change the bandage on it, is that okay?" Violet grabbed the new bandage from the bag and saw that the medical supplies were slowly dwindling. She slowly unwrapped the old bandage which was crusted with dried blood and threw it to the side on the table. Jae was awkwardly on her side, her top rolled up and unable to bring herself to look at the stab wound.

"Is it bad?" She asked, her eyes fixed on the stained carpeting biting her lip to in an attempt to prevent her from cursing.

Violet's eyes ran over the deep cut, her needlework looked even worse but there was no sign of infection which led to a deep sigh of relief, "it's still bleeding but no infection. I'd say four more days of rest." She smiled as she wrapped the new bandage around and tucked the end in.

"Four?!" Jae exclaimed, they couldn't wait that long, she thought, Marlene was waiting for them at the Fireflies lab - they needed those guns. "No, no - that's not possible Violet. We have to leave tonight or tomorrow."

"Uh uh, there is no way you'll be able to walk." Violet shook her head, disposing of the bandage and washing her hands with some water. A knock on the door interrupted them, and it opened to reveal Joel and Ellie carrying several tins of food in their arms.

"There was a lot of food down there." Ellie beamed as she sat down on the end of the bed, Joel placing the tins onto the floor in the corner and beginning to sort them out.

"What's for dinner then?" Violet asked, throwing a side eye to Jae who was chewing on her lip and a tear appeared to be pouring from her eye, she couldn't understand what was so special that they needed to go right away.

"Beans," Joel grunted as he pulled open four cans, passing one to Ellie and two to Violet so that she could also carefully feed Jae along the way. 

 

/

 

They sat and chatted for a while until it got dark, Ellie being the first to stay up to nurse Jae through part of the night. "I can't sleep." Jae sighed, opening her eyes and readjusting the covers.

"Not tired?" Ellie whispered, trying not to wake the others who were on the floor using their backpacks as pillows.

"No. I just can't stop thinking."

"About?" She sat at the foot of the bed, her legs stretched out.

"You. Me. This situation."

"What about it?" Ellie's innocent voice made Jae feel even more guilty - how could she be holding them back like this? How could she be so selfish?

"Come here." Jae beckoned Ellie over to her side and reached out to hold her hand. She would have had to have been an idiot not to realize the similarities between her and Sarah. Their eye color, their button nose, pale skin but more importantly Jae could see the hopefulness that they both shared. She wanted Ellie to survive because she wanted a part of Sarah to be alive also. Jae snaked an arm around Ellie's neck and brought her into a closer hug, and held her tight a single tear escaping her eye as she realized that it was time to say goodbye to Joel.


	8. YOU NEED TO GO

"WAKE UP JOEL FOR ME," Jae let go of Ellie, "it's time for you to rest." 

Ellie sat up on the bed and stared into the distance unsure of what was going on, but she got up anyway and tiptoed over to Joel and shook his arm lightly, waking him up straight away. "What is it?" He scowled, rubbing his eyes.

"Jae wants you." Ellie shrugged and laid down next to Violet who was snoring gently and hugging onto a coat that she usually wore. His eyebrows creased but he got up anyway and sat down on the chair next to the bed.

"Joel-" She started but couldn't form the words in her head so they were left then staring at each other in the almost pitch black room.

"What is it, Jae?" He spoke in an impatient tone, rubbing his hands together although he didn't really mean to come out that way. He always cared for her and maybe sometimes he was harsh but it was because he was scared too. She was his responsibility, and he owed to her mother to keep her alive as long as possible and that plan seemed to be all falling apart at this point.

"You need to go."

"Go where?"

"To the fireflies." 

"Without you?" Joel asked as he couldn't fathom what was going through her mind and what was causing her to act like this. "Is it bad news?"

She wasn't sure if she should lie and say it was fatal but she knew that would be a step too far, "it's going to be longer than we first thought. I'll catch up to you. It'll take you two or three weeks to get to the lab. I'll be literally a couple of days behind, I'll run to make up for it. Joel, you have to go. You gotta go-"

"Shh-" He held a finger to her lips, "what the hell has gotten into you?"

"That's humanities cure, Joel. You don't have much choice. I will shoot myself if you don't get your ass up and leave right now with Violet and Ellie." Jae moved the bed sheet to reveal the handgun she had stolen from Violet's back pocket.

"Listen to me, Jae-" 

"No, listen to me, Joel. You cannot waste this opportunity, I am thankful for everything you have done for me. From saving me on the night of the outbreak to basically raising me these past twenty years. You have consistently looked after me, making sure I had water, food, and shelter. You have sacrificed your own wellbeing, I've seen you sleep on an empty stomach, I've seen you sleep freezing just so I can have a little warmth. I will never be able to repay you, so for you to be able to deliver the cure and maybe even get it first that is me attempting to thank you for everything you have done for me."

Joel sat back in his chair staring at her, contemplating and taking in everything she was saying, "there is no way in hell I'm leaving you on your own."

"Leave me with Violet then, but you have to go tonight. Just wait for me at the lab, I promise I will come for you." Jae reached out to Joel and he grabbed her hand, his fatherly instincts to hug her gone instead he just held on tightly his rough skin pressed tightly against Jae's soft hands.

"Okay." He nodded, "I'll gather the supplies and wake Ellie." He was never good at these goodbyes and he couldn't bring himself to look at Jae for any longer so he began to pack all the items up but leaving some food for the two girls to have while they remained in the hotel.

"Joel, just in case I don't make it-"

"Don't you dare."

"Just in case I don't make it," Jae continued a lump forming in her throat as she carried on, "thank you. Thank you for being so wonderful, thank you for caring for me as well as you have done. I'm sorry for any trouble I have caused you, and I hope Ellie becomes the best partner you have ever had." Joel kept his head down, shutting his eyes tightly to prevent him from crying as he bent down to wake Ellie up, "don't wake her Joel. She'll only resist."

He nodded and leaned down to pick her up bridal style, "I'm ready to go."

"Goodbye." Jae bit down on her lip, as tears cascaded down her cheeks as Joel walked out the door and gave her a final look.

"I'll wait for you." He turned and shut the door, walking down the dark hallways one salty tear dripping down his face as he marched on knowing that he would come to regret this decision and with one last sigh he walked out the hotel doors and onwards to the lab.


	9. DO YOU HAVE YOUR REASONS?

JAE LAID AWAKE THE WHOLE NIGHT, she could not see Violet but could hear her soft small snores filling the room. She felt guilty that Violet didn't even know her fate of staying in this room alone with her for the next few days, then fighting alone for two weeks to reach the lab. She couldn't understand why she agreed with Joel, it was too rushed, she kept thinking as her eyes scanned the window looking for any sort of activity. 

Violet finally stirred after sunrise, her face stuffed into the damp corner, she blinked several times before realizing that it was quiet, too quiet. She couldn't hear Ellie humming, Joel mumbling with Jae telling them both to shut up. Had all three of them left her? She couldn't blame them if they had, they were all on a mission and although Violet had no idea what, she understood that people had places to be and things to do. Rolling over quickly, she was relieved to see Jae's fingers hanging onto the white sheet that was covering her and her shoes poking up from the foot of the bed. 

"Where are they?" She asked, her voice groggy but the cheerfulness never failed to shine through that.

"They've gone," Jae replied, the sadness dominating the tone of her voice.

"Gone? Gone where?"

"To their destination."

Violet stood up and looked around as if Joel was the type of guy to do a practical joke and suddenly jump out like 'surprise', she ventured over to the window and stared out of it searching for any sign of them. "We'll catch up with them when I'm better," Jae half-heartedly said, "it was important they got to where they were going first."

Violet nodded and turned around, unable to fathom why there was so much secrecy and urgency about where they were going, "and I can't know where you were going, right?"

"You'll know, soon." 

Violet sighed, nodding her head as if she understood although that was the polar opposite to the thoughts running through her head. "I think it's time for you to sit up."

Throughout the morning they both remained quiet, both were in deep thought processing their new surroundings and often becoming set in a deep daydream. Jae's thoughts kept flickering back to the night of the outbreak, how Sarah's death had been her own fault - it haunted her and she would never forgive herself. 

When afternoon came, Violet had already found herself to become lonely and Jae had had enough at staring out the window for literally no reason. "There's not much to do here." She laughed and sat down next to Jae.

"You've only just figured that out?" 

"You calling me stupid?" 

"Those weren't my exact words." Jae smiled as she looked at Violet's pouting face, her hair a complete mess all over her face. 

"Stop staring at my hair! I can literally see your eyes scanning it, I know it needs a brush! I'm a human, we're not perfect!" She cried out, making Jae burst into a laugh which was quickly cut off due to the sharp stinging sensation she felt up her side. "Oh shit, is that your side?"

"It's not a problem." Jae tried to wave it off, too scared to look just in case she had an infection and then she had practically doomed Violet's life who had no way of knowing or getting to the lab on the other side of town - especially alone.

"No, let me have a look." She got off up the seat and undone the bandage carefully, they both held their breaths as they prepared to see the condition of the gash. Carefully pealing of the last layer of the bandage, it revealed a clean wound and both sighed with relief.

"Did you have to do it so slowly?" Jae scowled, beginning to breathe normally again.

Violet ignored her and put a fresh bandage on, washing the old ones in the sink to try and get the blood out of them as they only had two fresh bandages left in the medical bag. "Did Joel leave us any weapons?" She asked as she prepared them some chicken broth, something that she had slowly come to love in the past twenty years.

"Well I have my knives, I presume he left some bullets for your gun," Jae responded, slowly pushing twisting her body to grab her water bottle that lay by her side.

"Do we have a plan after we leave? The same direction they were going?" Violet grabbed some spoons from the bag and passed one of the cans to the Jae and held one for herself.

"Yep. It's about two or three weeks from here." Jae smiled at her when she received the can, eagerly taking the first mouthful still hungry from only receiving a handful of food items over the past couple of days.

"Aren't you excited to be sharing the road with me?" Violet nudged her jokingly, winking.

"No." She returned, her expression completely deadpan as she shoveled another helping of the chicken broth into her mouth. "I would rather share it with a clicker."

"Their sound alone creeps me out." She shivered, even the thought freaked her out. 

"Do you ever wish life would return to how it was before the outbreak?" Jae sighed after several moments of silence between the two, the conversation changing to a much darker tone - something Violet often avoided.

"Is it weird if I say no?" Violet blinked, the words coming out as if they were in slow motion, the words not forming correctly in her mouth,

"Not if you have your reasons." Jae shrugged, taking a sip of her drink and eyeing the girl next to her. "Do you have your reasons?"

Violet paused for a moment, unsure to the reason she was sharing such information when Jae had remained such a closed book on her, "yes but I don't necessarily think they are ready to be said."


	10. OPEN THE DOOR!

VIOLET SPENT ALL NIGHT AWAKE, her mind flashing back to what nights were like before the outbreak. She couldn't remember much, but she still felt the raw pain of the incidents causing her eyes to well up with water every so often. She monitored Jae a few times, thinking how lucky she was to stumble upon this particular group she was aware of how certain people could be treated during this time and she could have easily been taken advantage of. But was death worse than roaming the world alone? Not for Violet, she couldn't be alone for too long. She was scared of loneliness, in fact, it was her biggest fear in the world, perhaps her only fear. She hadn't talked much about her old group, they had six members including herself. Four females and two males, they had all been older than her and therefore slower than her making their escape from the hunters impossible. Violet had been standing directly behind Shaun when he was shot in the head his blood spraying all over her, the only move she had left was to jump out the window and run for it. She felt selfish leaving her group behind but they were never going to be able to make it, they had all accepted their fate and were left to pray to God.

She smiled wearily as she looked over to Jae, she looked beautiful as she slept, her eyes tightly closed, her mouth slightly parted and her hair spread wildly over her pillow. To tell the truth, Violet wasn't sure she'd survive when she first got stabbed but then she would be absolutely useless to the group so she made a promise to herself that she would get Jae back to full health and it seemed to be heading that way.

Jae woke up just after sunrise, the lack of curtains shining the sun directly into her chocolate brown eyes as Violet's face was perfectly lit up by the shine showing off all her features as Jae took in how gorgeous she really was. Her eyes were almost as dark as the pupils, but as the sun shone you could see the distinct difference in them and her eyelashes were longer than she had seen ever, looked as if they were extensions. Her lips seemed permanently curved into a smile, showing her perfectly straight teeth and infecting everyone else with happiness. Her hair, at the moment, was beyond messy sticking out in all kinds of directions, the curls letting small beams of light through them.

"Goodmorning," She smiled at Jae, standing up and stretching her arms out wide, "I think you can start walking again today."

"Then that means you can brush your hair today." Jae cheekily grinned at her, as she slowly pushed herself up into a seated position.

"Hm, someone woke up in a cheerful mood." Violet laughed, grabbing the brush from Jae's bag and starting to comb through it, the results were never going to be as good as if she used an afro comb but it was managing to solve some of the tangles and make it look generally neater. "I wonder if there are any clothes left in the rooms? My outfit is a bit tatty."

"They'll be over twenty years old." Jae raised a brow, as she sipped on her water bottle, kicking the covers off of her feet.

"Think of it as a charity shop." She smiled widely as she prepared some beans for breakfast, sharing the small tin between them.

 

/

 

After breakfast, Violet was getting her bag ready so that they could walk along the corridor and maybe check out some rooms. She packed her gun just in case and put a couple of knives into Jae's backpack. Jae was sitting up on the bed, her legs dangling over the side waiting for Violet to help her up unsure if she could support her own weight. Their hands connected, their skin soft and baby-like, a clash of colors as Violent gently pulled her up quickly supporting her by pulling an arm over her shoulder and the other under her arm. A small grunt escaped Jae's mouth as she steadied herself, getting used to the feeling of being on her own two feet again.

"I've got it." She mumbled, as she slowly peeled Violet's arms off of her and stood strong by herself.

"You sure?" Violet asked as she shadowed her movements, as they cautiously and slowly walked over to the door. Jae's movement was slow, like a toddler walking but the pain in her side wasn't strong and she enjoyed the feeling of movement after what seemed ages stuck in the same position. Violet carefully opened the door and checked the corridor making sure no one or nothing was there. "Let's walk to the lobby and back."

"Sounds like a plan." Jae nodded as she followed Violet out the door, stumbling few times and making sure an arm guarded her wound at all times.

"I didn't think you'd be able to walk this well, this fast." Violet smiled proudly as she held her gun up protectively.

"The safety is still on darling." Jae giggled, rolling her eyes and shaking her head, "How did you survive this long."

"We found a military bunker. Stayed there the whole time, we came up for supplies and we got ambushed by hunters straight away. We wouldn't have survived otherwise." Violet shook her head, before fiddling with the gun to take the safety off, "I knew the safety was on, I was just testing you." 

As they reached the lobby, Violet could tell Jae was out of breath and had slowed down, sweat beads dripping down her forehead. Jae was first to see the door, Joel had placed a piece of wood on the outside, and laid a piece of wood for them on the couch if they needed to place one on the inside. Jae smiled gratefully, as Violet placed it in between the handles giving them an extra barrier of strength.

"Sit on the couch, Jae. We can rest here for a bit." Violet sighed as she looked outside, the road looking empty and lonely, but she could hear something in the distance, it sounded like screaming. "Do you hear that?" She asked as in the distance she saw two figures approaching from the sun, getting bigger at a steady speed. 

"What are they running from?" Jae asked, her eyes squinting as the two figures ran closer towards them. They quickly realized what they were running from, as a wave of infected followed the two people. As they came closer, Violet realized they were two men around their age. One boy had pale skin, dark brown hair which looked messy and matted against his head, some stubble and dark brown eyes. He had a rifle swung over his shoulder and a pistol gripped tightly in his hand, constantly checking back to look at the zombies who were getting closer and closer to them. The other boy who had olive skin, his eyes sticking out to Violet as they were gorgeous and shone in the morning light. He had blood all over his forehead, which stemmed from a cut within his almost-black hair, a cricket bat was waving wildly in his hands as he looked as if he was tiring. The pale boy pointed towards the hotel and noticed Violet standing in the doorway began waving his arms and shouting, "open the door!" at her.

Violet looked over to Jae, "We should let them in."

"What if they're infected?" Jae furrowed her brows, looking out at the two men who were only 100 meters from the door, still screaming at them.

"Then we'll take their food, weapons, anything they have and leave them." Violet reasoned, and with Jae's nod of approval, she turned round to take the wooden bar from the handles. The two men slammed up against the door, the group of runners not far behind them as they rushed to take the other wood out. Violet opened the door, as the two boys dashed in and shut the door behind them, trying to catch their breath as they collapsed onto the floor. The zombie horde bashed up against the door, hungry for the taste of human skin and blood dripping from their mouths, Violet hurriedly put wooden slat back and stood back from the door her eyes wide with panic and adrenaline. Jae looked at Violet, the zombies and the boys wondering how they had so many on their tail, and why they had so many on their tail. She hadn't seen this many since the outbreak, as they all gathered outside the hotel not showing any sign of disappearing.

"Well, that's us fucked." She shook her head, not knowing how the hell they were going to escape the hotel now.


	11. I'M NOT TRYING TO KILL YOU

"THANK YOU." The pale boy breathed out as he threw his shotgun to the floor and put his head in his hands.

The olive-skinned boy stood up and reached his hand out to shake with Violet's and Jae shot up almost immediately, biting her lip from the sharp pain in the side, "Don't touch her. You might be infected."

"It's not spread by touch," he went to argue back but was met with Jae's stony face, "you can check us for bites if you would like." 

"Tell us your names first." Violet requested, knowing that's what he was about to do when Jae jumped down his throat.

"I'm Omar, and this is my friend Daniel." He nodded, sending her a small smile of appreciation.

"I'm Violet and my companion here is Jae." She nodded over to Jae, who looked as if she was sulking child whose toys had just been taken away. Omar took his tank top off and rolled his trousers up to show that he had no bites, Jae giving Violet quick glances to make sure she wasn't checking him out. 

"What happened to your head?" She asked as she looked him over for bites.

"Hunters. Well hunter, actually. Attempted to rob us by bashing me over the head with a baseball bat, it's what I have on me now."

"I can sort that out." Violet smiled as she got the alcohol, and bandage out of her bag.

"White boy," Jae kicked at his feet, "let me check you for bites."

"My name is Da-" He looked up and saw Jae's expression, "Nope okay my name is white boy." Daniel carefully stood up and took off the jacket and top he was wearing, also rolling the trousers up. Unlike Omar, Daniel had a couple of scars on his torso even paler than his already pale skin; they were prominent and one looked particularly deep, but Jae didn't want to draw any attention to them and looked over his body.

"No bites." She nodded as she sat back down on the bench, rubbing the sweat off of her forehead.

"So how did you get into this mess?" Violet wondered, looking at the two men who looked incredibly worn out.

"You know the prison up the road from here?" Omar explained, using his hands to explore the new bandage on his forehead, "Well, we thought it was empty."

"You idiots, you didn't know that the fireflies used that as a lab about a year ago?" Jae rolled her eyes, as Daniel and Omar shared a look between them both their eyebrows creased in confusion.

"Well, you're welcome to stay with us until we leave," Violet beamed, "we've chosen a room just down the hall, but you can sleep wherever."

"Thank you." Daniel smiled gratefully, picking up the rifle from the floor only to see Jae shaking her head at them.

"Weapons are with us. We don't know what you'll try while we sleep." Jae ordered and unable to argue, they both handed the cricket bat, pistol and rifle over to her and the leftover ammo in their bags.

Violet helped Jae up as they all took one last look at the zombies who were gathered outside of the door, before disappearing down the corridor with Omar and Daniel following them. "You alright?" Violet whispered as she could tell that the girl was tense.

"I'll live."

"Okay, let me check your wound when we get to the room."

"No, I'm gonna go to the roof and check possible exit routes." Jae sped up a little and limped down the long corridor to attempt to find a way to the top of the building. Realising she had left Violet with two unknown people, she stopped in her tracks and looked back, shouting down the corridor, "White boy with me. Now."

"What about me?" Omar asked, looking at his friend who jogged down the corridor to meet Jae.

"You can both cook a meal for us." Jae asserted, walking through the door without holding it open for Daniel whom it hit in the face.

"She seems fun." Omar laughed to Violet, as they entered the room that the girls had been staying in for the past few days.

"She was like that with me too, and we've only been with each other for a week. She'll warm up, hopefully." Violet offered a small smile as she sat down in the corner of the room and rummaged through the cans to decide what to eat. "Where are you guys heading?"

"No idea. You?"

"Um, I'm following Jae." Violet picked some beans with barbecue flavoring, with some rice that Joel and Ellie had brought back a few days prior.

"And where she is going?" Omar raised an eyebrow, sitting down on the bed and feeling his body relax almost immediately.

"She hasn't told me."

"You have an awful lot of trust in a girl you only met a week ago and you have no idea where she is going." 

"I guess. Have you got any food in your backpack?" 

 

/

 

It had taken them a while to get to the roof, there were a few flights of stairs and Jae struggled to climb them with her injury so eventually, they made it and immediately Jae sighed, taking in the cold air of the outside. 

"I'm going to light a cigarette. I'm not trying to kill you with my lighter." Daniel reached into his backpack to get his pack and lighter out.

"You have cigarettes?" Jae walked to the edge of the roof, that had no railings and saw that the herd of zombies had started to swarm around the whole hotel.

"Yes," and then hesitantly, "would you like one?"

"Mhm." She nodded, as she tried to find a car or some mode of transport that would allow them to get out of here as soon as possible. Daniel lit up a cigarette and passed it to her, before lighting his own and sitting down on the roof, his legs swinging over the side.

"There's a car over there." He pointed to a range rover that had smashed windows and was in plain sight of the herd by the front door.

"That won't work," Jae took a long drag from the cigarette, it had been ages since she'd had one - Joel had found out she had been smoking with Tess and gone berserk telling her; 'you shouldn't ruin your body like that!'

Jae walked around the whole of the roof, knowing that the exiting via the front of the hotel would not work she focussed her strategies on the back praying there was a door downstairs that they could use. As her cigarette finished she stomped it out, and noticed a camouflaged van behind the trees, "shit do you see that?"

Daniel got up, his eyes squinting as he looked to where she was pointing, and faintly saw a white outline to an otherwise painted van, "well what if it has no gas?"

"That is the same as asking what happens if we stay in this hotel for too long."

"And what happens if we do that?" 

"We die," she rolled her eyes, "eoliseog-eun baeg-in sonyeon."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> eoliseog-eun baeg-in sonyeon means stupid white boy btw.


	12. YOU STILL BELIEVE IN GOD?

JAE BEGAN THE WALK BACK TO HER ROOM when Daniel called her name catching her attention, "why are you limping?" he jogged forward and opened the hatch for them both to climb down.

"None of your business. Just follow me and shut up." She shook her head, swinging her legs over the side and grabbing onto the ladder and began to descend. Not wanting to annoy her, Daniel decided to question no further and began humming as they made their way down the long corridors, their guns gripped in their hands just in case something was to pop out although highly unlikely. 

"We should loot some rooms, see what we find." He stopped by the first door, preparing to kick it open but Jae seemed to ignore him and continue walking, "did you hear me? We should loot."

"I heard you. We can loot tomorrow. I need rest and so do you." She shook her head, rolling her eyes, "do you always disobey orders? Is that how you're in this mess?"

"No." It came out more defensively that he would have liked and Jae let out a small laugh as they finally reached their room. Jae knocked on the door a couple of times, and Violet opened it with a big smile on her face giving her a hug as she entered the room.

"I only went upstairs," Jae raised her eyebrows as she pulled away from the hug despite enjoying the warmth from her body, "we weren't going to die."

"I missed you still." Violet gave a small smile to Daniel before shutting the door behind them. Jae and Daniel placed their weapons down on the table, before taking seats on the floor.

"Good news?" Omar looked positive as all four of them tucked into the tin of beans.

"Good news, there's a van. Bad news, it's quite far and we don't know how much gas there is in it." Jae was shoveling the beans into her mouth as if she hadn't eaten in ages, and Violet smiled knowing that she had finally got her appetite back.

"Well, where are you guys going? Can we tag along?" Omar looked hopefully between them, as Jae and Violet made eye contact, obviously differing ideas about what do with them.

"We're heading west. You can come with us until the gas runs out." Jae had finished her beans already and grabbed her backpack, looking for some painkillers but finding none.

"West where?"

"What room are you going to stay in tonight?" Violet asked before Jae could snap an answer at Daniel, her anger evident on her face.

"Next door will be fine."

 

/

 

Ellie sighed out loud as they climbed through more rubble in the city, she was still annoyed at Joel for leaving Jae and Violet in the hotel alone. "Will you quit your sighing?" Jael shook his head, alert that there were clickers all over this building.

"What you did was wrong, Joel. I just don't get how you don't fucking know that." Joel was getting tired of Ellie thinking she knew what he was thinking, that she knows his reasons for what he did - as if he was selfish for wanting what was best. As he has done every time she made a comment similar to this, he ignored her and continued pushing forward careful not to make any noise. 

When he could no longer hear Ellie's footsteps, he turned round to see that she had stopped and folded her arms. "Ellie, what are you doing?"

"I want an apology."

"For what?"

"For leaving Jae and Violet on their own back there." Ellie dropped her backpack on the floor and slid down the wall to sit on the floor.

"I did it for a reason. Not that you'll ever understand." Joel shook his head, picking the girl up and slinging her over his shoulder. Carrying her bag in the other hand, he continued walking through the building, knowing that if he stopped to confront what he had done he would be filled with so much regret that he wouldn't know what to do with himself.

 

/

 

Jae had stayed up all night, Violet's head in her lap as she sipped from her water bottle. No doubt in her mind that she was tired, but she couldn't shake the guilt from her head over not telling Violet anything. She had barely opened up to her, whereas she knew a lot about Violet - everything except what her life was like before the outbreak and not that it really mattered now seeing as no one cared what your prior life was. Jae felt dirty, they were nowhere near a river and she hadn't washed in days the smell emanating off of her almost unbearable, although she was certain that the others were exactly the same. 

Eventually, she'd had enough of staring blankly at the wall so she decided to grab a weapon and head up to the roof for the sunrise. Not able to leave a note, she hoped she'd be back before Violet woke and started panicking. She remembered the way to the roof and steadily made it up out of the hatch only to see Daniel sitting on the other side, smoking.

"White boy?" She asked as she clambered up, and tucked her weapon into her belt wandering over to his side of the roof.

"Daniel," he didn't even look up at her, just took another drag, "what're you doing here?"

"Couldn't sleep." Jae looked up at the sky, it was cloudy as if it was going to rain tomorrow or worse, storm. They both stayed in silence for a while, it was as if they didn't realize the other person was there; off in their own thoughts. "How long have you been up here?"

"Long enough to have had three cigarettes." Daniel held the packet up as if offering for Jae to take one but she wasn't looking at him, instead looking over at the van they were planning to use for their escape route.

"It's just too fucking convenient, isn't it?" She shook her head, getting angry with herself. For no particular reason although it was probably down to the lack of sleep, as she should be happy that they had an easy way out of here.

"Maybe it's God's gift to us." Daniel got up, placing a warm hand on her shoulder - a bad attempt to calm her.

"You still believe in God?" 

"No."

"Then why did you-" 

"I don't know. Hope, desire, expectation?" Daniel stamped his cigarette out and lay down on the concrete flooring, watching the beautiful sunrise. The gorgeous orange colored rays breaking through the clouds, warming up all that was under it but the winds picked up harshly striking the two across the face and pulling their hair back violently. Jae was right, today's weather wasn't a good day to move, and they would once again be stuck in this place all day.


	13. GOODMORNING SUNSHINE

"I GOTTA GET BACK BEFORE VIOLATE WAKES, I DON'T WANT TO WORRY HER." Jae turned sharply and winced remembering suddenly that she had forgotten all about her stab wound.

"Why'd you keep gripping onto your stomach like that?" Daniel furrowed his brows as he pulled open the hatch for them both.

"No need to be concerned." Jae mustered up the biggest smile she possibly could as she lowered herself down the ladder but that troubled him further, as it seemed so out of character for the girl.

"Mhm," Daniel shrugged unconvinced, "can we look around the rooms today?"

"Sure. I need a new change of clothes anyway." Jae hurried down the corridor, worried that she may be late for Violet waking up. She rushed off without Daniel, biting heavily on her bottom lip hoping to overpower the pain from her stomach and eventually reached her room and opened the door quickly only to notice that Violet was still asleep on the floor, making Jae breathe a huge sigh of relief. She tapped Violet lightly on the shoulder, and she immediately stirred turning over and smiling brightly at Jae.

"Goodmorning sunshine," Jae smirked as she sat down on the bed, lifting up her top to take a small look at her wound.

"Morning. Need me to change the bandaging?" Violet yawned as she stood up, stretching out her arms and rubbing her eyes.

"Yes please." Jae laid on her side, closing her eyes knowing that Violet's hands were going to be freezing cold.

As Violet began to undo the dressing, she noticed that Jae was uncomfortable so decided to distract her, "so what's the plan for today?"

"Loot the rooms and be out of here tonight."

"Mm, it's gonna be nice to get out of these clothes. I'm in the same clothes I found in the army bunker." She shook her head, rebandaging the cut up and noticing that it seemed to be improving.

"Well, I left my old clothes at home, back in the districts. Didn't think I was going to be gone for long." Jae got up and grabbed the rifle checking to see how many bullets were in there- before Violet could answer, there were two knocks on the door and the boys entered.

"Didn't mean to be listening in, but we're out of here tonight?" Omar asked as he leaned on the door, watching as Violet picked dirt out from underneath her nails.

"That's the plan, white boy with me. Omar, you can go with Violet." Jae grabbed the handgun and threw it towards Daniel, whilst putting her knives in her bag. She passed the rifle to Violet and left Omar weaponless. "Sorry, I can't trust you with a gun if you're on your own with my girl."

And with that Jae stormed out of the room tugging Daniel to follow her and leaving a surprised Violet staring at the door, "well um- we better get to it then."

 

/

 

Jae had gone to the top level of the hotel, hoping that's where the most loot would be and the least amount of zombies. 

"Do you think there will be any weapons?" Daniel asked as they opened the first door to the room, their guns held up defensively.

"Hopefully." Jae shrugged as she checked under the bed, only to find it empty before moving on to the drawers.

They looted in silence for the first couple of rooms, their hope diminishing as they found that most of the clothes left behind were ripped or eaten partially by moths. The excitement of possibly finding new clothes was slowly disappearing when checking the first half of the floor had given them nothing in return. Jae paused and rested by the wall, her head pounding from the lack of sleep plus not enough fluids in the recent day, Daniel noticed this and took the water bottle from his bag and passed it to her for her to drink.

"Thank you." She breathed, taking long drinks from it then throwing it back to him and recovering.

"I'll go into this next room first," Daniel ordered as he got ready to kick the door open. But something threw him off immediately, this door was locked from the inside as well so after an unsuccessful attempt to kick it open, he shot the lock and it swung open.

They had both seen horrible sights over the years, but this was possibly the most heart-wrenching as laying on the bed were two young children with bullet holes in their head being cradled by their mom as their dad sat in the chair opposite the blood splatter all over the curtain behind him. The bodies had not yet started decaying so they couldn't have been here that long, giving an overwhelming sense that they might have been able to save them, well that's what Daniel thought anyway.

"Fuck," Jae muttered under her breath, knowing that the harsh moral decision would soon come up between the two, they would have supplies they could take but was it right to take them?

 

/

 

Violet followed behind Omar as they made their way through the bedrooms on the ground floor, most of them having little items but a couple of necessities like shavers and even a box of tampons and pads. The two had enjoyed conversation, often coming up with little jokes that weren't even that funny but it felt good to laugh, so that's what they did. 

"Bingo!" Omar called out excitedly, "we have a whole wardrobe of guns and ammo here. No clothes though."

"What guns?"

"Three pistols, a revolver, four rifles and two shotguns." Omar lifted everything out from the wardrobe and threw them onto the bed.

"Finally." Violet smiled and hugged Omar both with wide grins on their face.

"Looks like our escape will be made easier then." 

"True. And our journey to the west." 

"Well, mine is only to when the gas runs out." He shrugged, the mood going sullen again.

"Jae might change her mind." Violet herself seemed unsure of this response and found herself unable to look Omar in the eyes.

"Or you could just come with us?"

"And leave Jae?" Violet took no pause in rushing out her answer, "I wouldn't do that."


	14. AT LEAST I DIDN'T SEE HER TURN

OMAR AND VIOLET CONTINUED SEARCHING THE GROUND FLOOR but found nothing more so decided to venture up to the first floor. They weren't too concerned about finding guns, more focused on new clothes but it seemed as if the hotel had been wiped off them.

"When you were younger, what did you want to be?" Omar engaged in small talk again as they began opening doors and searching the rooms.

Violet pondered over this, "I didn't have a uh, typical childhood. I try to block it out, try to be the opposite of what my childhood tried to teach me. But, probably something stereotypical, like a princess. You?"

"An astronaut. I always wondered what was up there." Omar pointed up as he checked in the cabinets above the bed. "When my grandparents died, and my brother and I asked where they went - they always pointed up. I wanted to go find them, so naturally, I thought the easiest way was to become an astronaut."

"What happened to your parents after the outbreak? If you don't mind me asking." Violet gave him a little look to make sure she hadn't upset him before they walked out the room together in order to look through another one.

"We were lucky. Escaped the city as soon as we heard, piled up on supplies. Then, over the radio, we heard about a colony being set up. And they were accepting the first fifty people, so being only fifty miles from the location we got there pretty quickly. Me, mom, dad and my brother. It was there I met Daniel, been friends ever since." Omar had a small smile on his face when he mentioned his best friend but hid his face, slightly embarrassed. "What about you?"

"My mom was one of the first to be infected. At least I didn't see her turn, so that's a good thing."

 

/

 

Jae and Daniel hadn't moved since they entered the room with the dead family, both staring blankly at the walls. Jae was the first to act as she opened the wardrobe and found some clothes that they could wear, and as she reached to pull them out Daniel grabbed her hand, shaking his head.

"I don't know what you're going to say, but quite frankly I don't care. Don't object to it, because if it had been us on that bed and those people had stumbled upon us, they would be doing the exact same thing, okay? I don't know where you been for the past twenty years, but this is a dog eat dog world and we can't stop ourselves from doing something because it's 'morally wrong', well guess what? Morals don't exist out here." Jae pulled the sweaters, tank tops, leggings and socks from the wardrobe and piled them onto Daniel, who looked stunned at her speech but nonetheless carried the stuff in his arms and back down to the room.

Daniel and Jae were in the room alone together, the other two obviously not finishing their searching of the rooms just yet, and the air was a little awkward from her previous outburst so they sat awkwardly in silence. Eventually, Jae got up and looked out at the window checking how dark it was outside and deciding to pack her bag with all the supplies that she wanted.

"Did I offend you with what I said?" Jae sharply looked at him, her eyebrow arched.

"No-"

"Then why you acting like I just offended your dead grandma?"

"Well, maybe you did." Daniel grinned, knowing that if he even attempted to argue that he would not be getting in that van tonight.

"Fuck you." Jae giggled, continuing to stuff some tank tops into her bag, along with the socks and one of the pairs of leggings. Daniel jumped up and began to join her, placing guns and food in his backpack but not the clothes, although he took a pair of the socks to prevent her from screaming at him; with no intention of actually wearing them.

Sometime later, Omar and Violet barged into the room carrying all the weaponry they had found, plus some bras and the tampons. "Sorry we took so long, we were trying to carry these down without setting them off." Violet apologized, bounding over to Jae. "What did you get?"

"Some clothes," she paused eyeing up Omar, "why were you so long? I was getting worried in case he had done something to you."

"Don't worry, I'm fine," Violet squeezed her hand, going over to pick up a large tin of spaghetti, and taking the top of it off, "the last supper guys."

"Last Supper." Jae echoed.

 

/

 

After they ate their spaghetti, the boys headed back to their room to change into the new clothes and get themselves ready for the escape. Omar stripped off his old grey sweater and pulled the new one over his head, looking down he realized that it was All Saints branded, "ha check me out, Danny, I'm wearing designer."

Daniel turned around and cracked a grin, as he pulled up his new cargo pants, "these are definitely not designer; probably from Target."

Omar rummaged through his bag, trying to find the necklace he managed to salvage from the wreck at his compound, he had made it when they first started melting metal and turning into useful things and although it only read 'OMAR' it meant so much to him. 

"What are we going to do when the gas runs out?" Daniel asked, as he zipped up his backpack and laid it down on the floor beside him.

"It's best not to think about that." Omar sighed, shrugging his shoulders, "we will just have to think about it when it comes to it."

Next door to them, the girls were also finishing their preparations; both bags packed, weapons fully loaded and plenty of supplies for their journey. Jae pushed the hair out of her face and sighed deeply, they were so behind Joel and Ellie, part of her believed they weren't going to make it at all and she wished they had at least some form of contact. 

"What's up?" Violet came over and brushed her hand over Jae's to catch her attention, but Jae simply shook her head in response. Violet couldn't understand why the girl shut her out like that often, it frustrated her to know that while she poured all her trust into this one girl she barely got any back so she turned her back to Jae and frowned.

"What's wrong?" Jae asked, oblivious to the situation.

"Nothing-" Violet didn't want to cause friction but she felt hypocritical by not saying anything and under Jae's intense stare, she broke, "fine! I think you should trust me because I trust you and we don't have anybody else in this world a-and I saved your life so that counts for something right? Tell me it counts."

"Yes, you saved my life and it counts but Violet, I've known you for two weeks. That's fourteen days, I'm not going to be pouring my life and soul into you just because you stitched my side up. And as for we don't have anybody else in this world - you might not, but I do. I have Joel, who means a lot more to me than you ever will, I've known him for twenty-three years. Trusting me is your choice, and it is my choice not to trust you." Jae was lying, it was obvious from the way she was twitching, how her voice went soft and delicate despite the fact it was meant to come out harsh. She already cared for the girl, and it was breaking her down inside but she chose to ignore it because that was easier than accepting the fact she was slowly becoming attached.


	15. NOTHING IS WORKING

UNABLE TO LOOK AT HER, Violet walked out of the room and knocked on the boy's hotel room, while Jae muttered a 'fuck' under her breath and punched the pillow on the bed realizing the mistake she had just made. Daniel opened the door, to see that the dark-skinned girl was close to tears, chewing on her bottom lip with glassy eyes, and without a moment's thought, he wrapped his arms around her. He looked back to Omar, who had a confused look on his face and stood up to come rub the girl's back, all three of them stayed it this position for a while before Violet pulled back and began to breathe normally again.

"What happened?" They finally got to ask as they shut the door and sat down on the bed together.

"Nothing. I'm just being silly." She wiped the remnants of the tears with her top and shook her head.

"You sure?" Omar asked but Violet nodded so he sighed, "well I'm always here to talk."

Daniel scratched the back of his neck, feeling awkward and out of place as Violet and Omar hugged, "well I'm going to go see if Jae's ready to leave." 

Jae had been staring out of the window, watching as the zombies mindlessly stared at the door and notice that the number had severely decreased since last time she saw and she couldn't help but wonder where they went; presuming they had stumbled down the road in hopes of chewing up someone else. She was somewhat startled at the knocks of Daniel, but nonetheless, let him come in despite the fact her eyes were red and her cheeks wet.

"Don't say anything about this," Jae warned him, as he lifted a finger to point at her face.

"Okay." Daniel raised his arms in surrender, "are you ready to go?"

"Give me a moment." Jae sighed as she lifted herself off of the window sill and stretched her arms, trying not to think about the potential outcomes of their escape.

"Are you worried? You look worried, I mean not that it's a bad thing but- yeah, you just look worried." Daniel babbled.

"What isn't there to be worried about? First, we might not even make it to the van alive, then if -just if- we make it to the van alive, what if that van doesn't have petrol? Assuming that the van has gas, who knows how much gas to get us how far. Once I leave you, will I have enough supplies for my journey? In this world, I am constantly worried Daniel, just because I don't show it doesn't mean I'm not thinking about the consequence or aftermath of everything, I do." Jae resisted the urge to roll her eyes, knowing that she couldn't upset too many people today, but really she wanted it to be just her and Violet again.

"Right," Daniel headed back out of the room, "well I think it's best we leave now." 

Jae agreed but didn't follow him out the door immediately as she needed to first grab something of Joel's she had tucked under the bed and forgot until just now. She bent down and snatched the picture of her and Sarah, looking at it only briefly before kissing it and placing it in her back pocket. When she walked out of the room, she saw the other three standing with their weapons brandished.

"Ready to go?" Jae called out and saw the others nod before she took the lead and marched them to the back door which had been barricaded from the inside. The four pushed all the boxes to the side, and Jae got ready to push it open and begin the long run to the van on the other side of the field.

Jae barged into the door with her shoulder, making it fly open and starting a screeching alarm. "Fuck, why did that happen?" Jae wondered, but didn't have long to ponder on it as she saw the zombies and clickers coming round the corner, and the adrenaline hit them all at once as they sprinted out the door. With their weapons drawn, they made sure they were covered from all angles as their feet began striking the floor with a heavy force that only propelled them further, but despite the speed, they were going at the zombies were starting to cover them from the front as well. Jae was always better at knives, but her precision with the gun was perfect and she seemed to be taking down the ones causing the most danger but Violet was having more trouble at the back, never having fired a gun before and finding herself relying on luck more than anything else.

Not far from the van, Jae took a small look back and saw that Violet was overwhelmed, so she slowed herself down to the pace of Violet and began helping her. "Go to the front, Violet. Get in the van." She screamed as she slowed herself down further, trying to give the group more time to get the van started, and not that she would admit it but her side had started hurting too. The trio ran straight to the van and pulling on all the doors, as Jae was underway shooting all the clickers. 

"Nothing is working!" Violet cried out in frustration when Daniel smashed the driver's seat window and unlocked it, letting Omar and Violet in the other side. Jae was still a little while away when Daniel grabbed the keys from the drink holder and turned the engine on.

"Jae! Hurry up!" He screamed from the van as he watched closely, Jae turned around and began to sprint towards the open back doors, which Omar had just kicked open. She pushed herself to run even faster, when Daniel spotted one rushing up from behind her, panicking he pulled his gun and shot behind her just as Jae lunged forward into the boot and breathed heavily as she collapsed to the floor.

"Fucking drive." She panted out as Omar began to shoot the clickers closing in on the van and Daniel pulled away, pressing his foot down on the acceleration as they drew away. Omar reached out and shut the doors, and collapsed next to Jae, wiping the sweat from his forehead and gulping down his water.

"How much petrol?" Jae asked, pulling her backpack off and leaning her head on it.

"Enough for two to three days," Daniel answered, as Violet climbed out of the seat and sat in the back with the other two. She reached out for Jae's hand, and gave her a small smile that she hoped would be a big enough thank you for earlier and with her nod back as a response, she was satisfied with how this escape ended.


	16. YOU WILL NEVER LOSE ME

THEY ONLY TRAVELLED IN THE VAN FOR A LITTLE WHILE, because they found a good spot to camp overnight and they weren't sure when an opportunity to rest would occur again so Daniel parked the van behind the bushes and they all climbed out, dragging their sleeping bags and supplies with them.

Omar and Jae decided to find some wood for the fire together, and so grabbed their guns and set off into the vast wood. They walked mainly in silence, their senses heightened just in case something would attempt to attack them, but they felt comfortable in each other's presences, all of Jae's distaste for him gone after he helped her into the van during the attack.

"You know," Omar began as Jae piled some more wood up in his arms, "I'd be dead if you hadn't opened the door, and you'd be dead if I hadn't kicked the van door open."

"It was Violet who opened the door," Jae replied with a small smile, "I was reluctant to do so."

Omar simply nodded understandingly, he was coming to understand Jae's harsh personality in the way that she just wanted to protect her friends. He noticed how she traded places with Violet, and he admired the way she guarded her from trouble at all times; simply seeing him as a threat and coming to her defense.

They finally made their way back to the camp to see that Daniel had already fallen asleep beside a log and Violet was sorting out which meal they were to have tonight. Omar and Jae worked together to light the fire and Violet started to heat the beans over it.

"Should I wake Daniel?" Violet wondered as she poured the beans into four plastic bowls they had found in the kitchen area of the hotel.

"Yep, good idea." Jae grabbed her portion and started munching on it as Daniel lazily sat up and ran a hand through his disheveled hair, also grasping hold of a bowl and beginning to eat it. Everyone happily sat in silence, enjoying the hot meal and finding themselves able to relax for once.

After a little while of everyone doing their thing, night time fell and through short yawns, everybody agreed it was time for bed. Omar guarded first, only for a couple of hours but he felt himself falling asleep against the trunk so woke Jae up for her turn in doing so. Jae got so cold that she had to rummage through her bag to find another sweatshirt to put over the top and then, taking extra measures, she wrapped her blanket around her several times.

"You look cold." She heard a soft voice from behind and turned round to see that Violet was sitting up in her sleeping bag, only in her vest - because to her it was warm.

"You look warm," Jae whispered back, with a small smile on her face, turning back to face the fire.

"I'm sorry for the way I reacted." Violet's eyebrows creased, part of her wanting to offer Jae a nice warm hug, but worrying deep down that she might reject her.

"You reacted normally," she mumbled in return, "I overreacted, I don't know what I was thinking." Despite all the reject she felt, she was struggling to bring herself to apologize, or even look at the girl whose eyes she could feel burning into her skin.

"I forgive you." Violet shrugged.

"I didn't apologize." Jae's face contorted into that of confusion, how could Violet be so merciful towards her, Violet's reactions always baffled her how she was so friendly, caring and kind - that nothing stopped her being who she was.

"But that doesn't mean I can't see that you are sorry," Violet bit her lip, "come over here." She gestured to her sleeping bag, and to Jae, it looked so inviting, although remaining unsure she shakily stood up and began to walk over to her.

Jae reached the sleeping back and crawled inside, bringing it up to her shoulders still maintaining her focus on the fire so she didn't begin staring at Violet's beautiful features. "I just don't understand." She shook her head.

"Understand what?" Violet had brought her top over her shoulders but was now sitting on the outside of the sleeping bag, facing Jae still, her eyes roving all over her body.

"You." Jae gave a small smile, "Everything about you. Who you are, your personality, your looks, your attitude to life. I don't get it, the whole world is falling down around you but you rise up, being the single most perfect human being I have ever seen or known," a tear formed in Jae's eye, "you are precious, and I know because of this fucking world, one day I will lose you. I haven't even known you for a month, and I'm fucking infatuated. This isn't me, you've changed me." She threw her head into her hands, hiding her face and the tears that were beginning to fall down her cheeks. She felt so embarrassed, never knowing these feelings before, not even when she was with Tess; everything felt so heightened, and she didn't know how or why she was feeling like this.

She felt two hands lift her chin up, both warm against her skin, Violet staring into her dark eyes also struggling to keep tears down, "I promise to you, you will never lose me. I will be here every step of your journey."

Jae's shaky hand brushed Violet's hair from her face, she was thinking of doing something monumentally stupid and felt herself leaning in, when her brain caught up to her action she was ready to pull back, but Violet's lips collided with hers and their eyes instantly closed. Violet had never experienced anything like it as they pulled each other closer for more intimacy, pulling away for short breaths but reconnecting them as if they were lost without each other. Jae's icy cold hands under her t-shirt made Violet gasp and pull away, as they both stared at each other panting heavily collapsing under the cover of the sleeping bag, with two large grins on their face.

They laid in silence for a while, their legs tangled, just thinking - especially Jae, who kept going over what just happened. Her mind was racing, unsure if what she did was right or wrong, eventually concluding that they should just talk about it in the morning. She sat up and placed a kiss on Violet's forehead, "goodnight."

As Jae went to wake Daniel up for the next shift, Violet turned over and shut her eyes tightly, her smile still beaming through the dark as if she would be eternally happy; but in this world, that is never true.


	17. I HAVE SECRETS TOO

JAE WAS WOKEN UP BY DANIEL AT DAYBREAK, the sun shining through a small crack in the clouds making her wake up with a radiant smile on her face which Daniel immediately noticed and cocked his eyebrow up. 

She sent a small glare his way, which looked a bit odd seeing as she still wore her grin proudly, "illegal for someone to be happy?"

He shook his head and sat down by her sleeping bag, offering her some beans that had been left over by Omar the night before, which she politely declined. "Not that you have to tell me, but why?"

Her eyes flickered to a sleeping Violet before back up to the clouds, "I can't say."

"It involves Violet right? I mean you did just look at her, smile even bigger and then look away - huge diversion tactic, but you also gave it away to me." Daniel winked at her, hoping that her mood would prevent her from snapping.

"Okay, mister psychologist." Jae rolled her eyes but didn't make a sarcastic remark; something which surprised even herself. 

"There's a river down there, I think we should see if the water is clean and maybe to bathe, you kinda stink." Daniel pointed behind the trees, and Jae could see the small twinkle of the sun reflecting on the calm water.

"I don't want to leave Violet," Jae mumbled before looking at Daniel who was now smiling, "or Omar. He's an integral part of this team." She corrected and coughed, but Daniel only burst out laughing, causing her to punch his arm.

"Ouch."

"Exactly. Shut up."

"If I wake up Omar, will you come with me?" Daniel asked, walking over to the tree which Omar was sleeping under, ready to shake him awake.

"If you wake Omar up then you can just go with him?"

"If I woke up Violet, she could come with me." Daniel shrugged.

"Okay fine, coming!" Jae rolled her eyes, standing up and grabbing her bag from around the fire, and making sure she had some knives she could use too.

 

/

 

They left camp together five minutes later after Omar had gotten up and Jae threatened that if anything happened to Violet she would hold him personally responsible. Daniel was wearing a tank top, one that showed off a massive scar down his left arm and what looked like a small scar with two initials beside it; Jae found herself staring at it as they wandered down the path, and Daniel immediately noticed.

"It's just a scar." He shrugged.

"How did it happen?" Jae was kicking the ground beneath her feet, secretly craving the wetness of the water and wanting to bathe so badly.

Daniel took a big sigh as if even he was unsure how to answer it, "well the initials are Omar's. He has the same on his arm. The big one-"

There was a pause, and Jae sensed that he was uneasy, "you don't have to answer it. I have secrets too, it's fine."

She wasn't looking at him, but he shot her a smile all the same. He didn't know what had caused her to change, although he was almost certain it was Violet, he liked it all the same. They came to the waterfront, and Jae edged herself forward, her hand begging to touch the cool surface as she slowly dipped her hand in before receiving a shove from behind, stumbling into the water face first, her impact making a huge splash.

She spluttered and sat up, sending Daniel a middle finger, "just when I was starting to think I liked you."

He winked, "well I think it's safe to say that we can bathe in there. We should probably grab the others."

Jae got up, glad that she had dumped her bag by the side before she had been pushed in, now soaked from head to toe and unbearably cold. But something was attracting her to the water, possibly the idea of feeling fresh as they rushed the other two to join them whilst they bathed in the shallow water.

Jae and Violet stood together, eyes wandering over each other's shirtless bodies - Jae not even wearing a bra as she tore off the bandage on her side to show that it had finally healed and was beginning to just be a scar.

"Excellent needlework." She remarked to Violet, who felt her cheeks heat up as she caught a sight of Jae's chest, ripping her eyes away almost immediately. Meanwhile, at the other end of the shallow river, Omar and Daniel were splashing about creating the biggest mess they could. Each of them felt so refreshed to be finally clean, no crusty blood, just fresh. Jae even got an attempt to shave her legs, but it didn't really work so she took the razor out and through the plastic to the side.

They dressed individually and climbed into the van, Omar driving this time as Jae and Violet cuddled in the back, just holding onto each other's hands; not wanting to let go. They were all wide awake, and playing stupid games like, 'eye spy' and the 'continuation game'. But it passed the time, and they managed to stay on the road all day, making sure to take the most easterly road possible, hopefully with no blockages. However, a thought lingered on all their minds; the short time they had left together. They all pretended to ignore the gas gage, but slowly it was going down and Violet silently prayed that Jae would change her mind and let them stay, loving the company the boy's brought and worrying for their safety once they left.

It might prove that there is a god for Violet, as Jae was thinking of ways to tell the boys to stay without allowing her to sound like she made a mistake. She knew there was safety in numbers, and they were both decent fighters allowing Violet to be her number one priority, but she didn't want to be in the wrong. 

Daniel tried to start up another eye spy game, but even Violet had had enough as she rested her head on a sleeping Jae's shoulder, "sh, we'll play tomorrow."

And with the other three asleep in the van, Omar continued to drive through the night but he wasn't going east. He was going north.


	18. I MISS YOU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it gets EXTREMELY MESSY from here :// this and the next chapter are confusing.com BUT i do give it a proper finale, so it's worth reading if u wanna conclude the story.

BANGING HEAVILY AT THE ENTRANCES AND EXITS, Jae knew that the snow still hadn't melted and they would be trapped yet again for another day struggling to find supplies. Violet watched from a distance as Jae sulked from one side of the mall to the other, her face sunken, aware that Jae had been giving her food to herself. As Jae angrily grabbed the baseball bat from the side and smashed it against the wall, she could only think of one thing; "this is all Omar's fault."

 

/

 

Jae knew Omar was going the wrong way, the road signs only emphasizing that so when she confronted him; he broke almost immediately. The car was halted as Jae pulled Omar out of the driver's seat and punched him in the face several times, only being stopped by Daniel as he pulled her back.

"What is happening?" Daniel and Violet looked at each other, both not understanding the interaction that had occurred. 

"This fucking idiot," Jae yelled, "is going north! Not west! Wasting our fucking fuel, for the past two days. And he knows it too." She growled and lunged forward again but was held back by Daniel's strong arms.

Violet was shocked, unsure how exactly to react as Omar looked down at the ground, mumbling a quiet, "sorry."

Jae shook herself from Daniel's grasp as she smacked her head against the van, "fuck."

They stayed as they were for a while, an attempt to calm everyone down but tensions were still running high when Daniel peeked into the van to see how much gas was left. "Good news or bad news first?"

"Bad." Violet sighed as she ran a hand through her hair.

"Well, there's not much gas left. Good news, we're approaching a town meaning we can siphon gas."

"He's doing all of the fucking work." Jae spat as she jumped into the back of the van, shaking her head.

 

/

 

There was only one section of the mall they hadn't explored, they were all frightened to do so. It was just unnerving and the locked doors gave them ample reason to just ignore it. Violet was the only person Jae would talk to, and even then it was brief. When Daniel needed help, Jae would help him but in silence, saying absolutely nothing and as soon as the task was done she would walk off to somewhere else. Jae was searching the radio store, picking the wind up radio off the shelf and began winding it up, hoping to contact someone.

 

/

 

They had been on the road for two whole months, heading east this time, but the snow was starting to fall and they realized that they needed shelter at least for a week. As much as Jae hated Omar for going north when he saved her from the clasp of death, she realized that he had done what he did to keep them together as a group so decidedly she forgave him. As they approached the mall, they slowly stopped the car, with Omar and Jae getting out to check the place whilst Daniel and Violet stayed there in case they had to make a quick getaway. Jae held her handgun up to her face, with knives in her belt as they pulled the door open and looked inside. 

Surprisingly, no one was in the immediate area so they decided to settle there for the night as snow was already filling up by the door and they didn't want to be snowed out so as they pulled the supplies they could into the doorway they forgot about the water that had been stored on top of the van and looked longingly at the barred the doors with the snow already preventing them from opening them.

 

/

 

Jae began scanning through all the frequencies when she heard something, going back and trying to focus it, hearing only snippets at a time.

"This is a message," she had focussed it and a heavy southern accent broke through, "for Jae Eun Park. This is Joel, Ellie, here too."

She was shocked, looking around the room as if someone was playing a prank on her but after repetitions of the message, she finally realized that it had to be true and so began to speak into the radio her end.

"Jae here. Joel? Ellie?" Her voice was soft, she didn't know what to expect, would this even work?

After a pause, "Jae? Oh my god! Joel, wake up Joel." Jae giggled as she heard Joel grunt, almost picturing his annoyed face, probably rolling his eyes too.

"Ellie, you better be telling the truth."

"I swear, Joel. I swear." There was shuffling and then some cursing but eventually, Joel had gripped the microphone in his hand.

"Jae? You still there?" 

"Yeah, barely surviving. But I'm here." She sighed, barely able to keep her eyes open as she leaned her back on the couch.

"We're only a few hours away from the lab, are you far?"

"Maybe a day. But we're trapped so I won't be there until the snow melts." Jae didn't see Violet and Daniel opened the door behind her, staring curiously to who she was talking to.

"Right. We'll be waiting for you. Hurry, I can't wait to see you."

Jae's face lit up, "I miss you too," but her face instantly frowned as the static appeared again and she lost connection but as she turned round to see the other two staring at her, confused. 

"Who was that?" Violet asked, she never heard anyone talk and she was becoming worried that Jae was slowly losing her mind.

"Joel." Jae stood up, brushing her jeans and walked towards them, "everything okay?"

"It's Omar. He's found a way out."


	19. TO VICTORY!

ESCAPING WAS STUPID, they should not have attempted it. Waiting till the snow melted, and they could finally push out the door would have prevented the set of events that destroyed their group and led to one person dying, and another being bit.

Omar was the savior. He led the group to victory, but he knew he couldn't continue on. Feeling himself become weaker from the bite, he had his chance to say goodbye, and gain redemption for all of his actions. His first stop was Violet, her eyes wide and scared but her voice remained gentle and soft as she approached him and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"D-does it hurt?" She asked as she sat beside him, a knife planted at her side just in case he turned in front of her.

"It's numb," he swallowed, "but I don't want to talk about me. I want to say goodbye, and more importantly - thank you. Thank you for saving my life that day, I appreciate it even though I seem to be ending up here."

"It was my pleasure." Violet smiled weakly as she gave him one last hug and they sat there in silence.

"Also," Omar spoke again, to a soft hum from Violet, "you have been an absolutely tremendous friend, thank you for keeping me entertained on those long journeys; they will forever be in my memory."

Violet stood up, a friendship bracelet she had made from the many weeks inside the mall was in her palm with the lettering of his name, albeit the 'O' was actually a zero. She placed it in her hand and quickly turned away, not being able to face him anymore.

As Violet left the room, tears streaming down her face, a silent nod signaled to Jae that it was her turn next to enter the room. Jae was upset, she just wasn't showing it and her awkwardness was visible as she sat next to Omar, her eyes darting everywhere but his face.

"I'm sorry." Omar began, but Jae was quick to shake her head.

"You're dying, this isn't a time for you to be sorry. I am sorry, for everything. The way I treated you, how rude I was; just everything. You didn't deserve it, and I shouldn't have blamed you for anything that happened."

"Jae, forgiving doesn't suit you." He laughed, as she rolled her eyes her true character coming through.

"We may never have seen eye to eye, but this is a thank you for saving my life just the same. I hope you find peace, wherever you may end up." She nodded and stood up to plant a kiss on his cheek, as she placed one of her knives beside him, whispering, "you meant a lot to me. I just never showed it."

Jae sent Daniel in, his hands already shaking as he held the gun in his left palm. When he first sat down next to Omar, it was completely silent, neither of them really knowing what to say to each other.

"I really will miss you." Daniel sighed, slamming his head into the wall behind him.

"I'm here," he poked Daniel's head, "and here," he poked his heart, "don't worry too much."

"Shut up. It just doesn't feel right to say goodbye to you. We've been best friends for over twenty years, the memories we have. The good, the bad, the downright embarrassing. You have been with me through thick and thin, fighting the zombies and crazy people off my back even when there seemed no chance of survival."

"It's what best friends do. But trust me, you mean just as much to me as I think I mean to you. Even if you lead me into death marches, although I must state the time I'm actually about to die; it is solely my fault."

Both their eyes were glancing at the gun in Daniel's hand, both begging to ask the question but unable to actually get it out. "I want you to do it," Omar said, he felt unable to do it himself.

"What if I'm not able to?"

"Do you really want to think of me as one of those monsters just because your conscience couldn't handle it? I certainly hope not. Be the true hero, and pull the trigger for me."

Omar yanked from his neck the dog tag he had worn since he was young placing it into the hand of Daniel, his eyes pleading with him that he would get it over and done with. So with heavy consideration, and one last handshake, with tears running down his cheeks Daniel pulled the trigger as the bullet buried itself into Omar's head and he slumped against the wall.

 

/

 

But that wasn't the end of their problems, as soon after they escaped and found themselves a nice building to hide in that was only a short way from the lab, another incident occurred. While they thought the building was secure, they didn't realize that the back door was in fact wide open, and only became alert to the fact that zombies had bitten someone when a huge shriek was let out.


	20. FINALE

JAE'S ARMS WERE WRAPPED TIGHTLY AROUND VIOLET, keeping her close to her body as they ran the rest of the way to the fireflies lab. Violet's bite was only on her leg but it was severely painful, like a roaring flame shooting up her body; her breathing becoming heavy and her eyes drooping. Daniel hung back behind them, his gun out, his hair standing on end as if all his senses were heightened as they sprinted through the forest hoping to reach the lab before it was too late.

Jae was mixed with emotions, she was so worried for Violet but she couldn't wait to be reunited with Joel and Ellie to finally make him proud, that she had finally done something. She wanted to prove to Tess that she fulfilled her promise, she got to the lab and she got that cure. Jae was so certain that the building contained the antidote, that her worry seemed to be slowly disappearing as they approached the main road that would lead up to the fireflies.

But as soon as they entered the courtyard of the lab, slowing down to a walk, something felt horribly wrong. Eerily silent and mysteriously empty, their heads sharply turned trying to figure out what had happened.

"Why is it so quiet?" Daniel asked as he pulled out another gun and stepped in front of Jae, taking a protective stance.

"I don't know. Joel should be here." Her eyebrows were creased as she looked around, eyes wide with suspicion.

Her concern for what had happened to the lab was soon confirmed when they reached the side door, with a bloody handprint on the handle that made them pause with caution before giving a nod of solidarity to one another as Daniel kicked the door open. The corridor was relatively empty, a trail of blood boot imprints led up to the elevator which made them want to turn back, but a grunt from Violet encouraged them to clamber up the stairs in an attempt to find some sort of cure.

Her arms were getting tired, as she felt the full force of Violet's weight but she was determined to make it, "I'm sure Joel is upstairs."

"If you say so," Daniel muttered, his head exploding with question along with the realization that he wouldn't be getting answers, but as he turned the corner his mind flashed back to the goodbye with Omar that had happened only hours before and he too, was fixed on making sure that he didn't lose another one of his friends tonight.

A gasp escaped from Jae's mouth when they reached the top, Marlene's sprawled body; blood pooled around her, seemingly from her stomach and a gun clutched in her hand. "Do you know her?" Daniel asked as he checked for a pulse, shaking his head.

"She owed me." It sounded cold, and it was meant to be that way. This quest that she set Jae had killed her first love, split her from a parental figure and lead to her being in danger every day. While she met Omar, Daniel, and Violet; it had already taken one of them from her and was certain of taking the person she loved from her, too.

Jae sat Violet down in the corridor, "look after her," she said to Daniel as she opened the door into the medicine room and began sorting through all the medicines that were available. She came across tubes labeled 'failed', angrily smashing them on the floor as she made her way around the room. When nothing seemed to be going her way, she whacked all of the tubes, causing them to shatter against the floor with great noise.

She tried several other rooms, finally finding a room within a room labeled 'SPECIAL ROOM', she entered tugging on the light and seeing only three tubes and one smashed on the floor. Inspecting them closely, the shelved ones all were labeled, 'cure' then crossed out and written 'mistake'. She noticed another room inside there, and guardedly opened the door a body swinging out at her, slowly it stopped swinging and Jae was able to identify a note in their pocket

"To whoever sees this, if anyone, that smashed bottle on the floor; was the key for humanity. After smashing it and realizing it is too late for humanity, I gave up. I hope God will forgive me, and you can forgive me too." Jae read out loud, screaming in frustration as she collapsed outside the door, knowing what would be the eventual fate of Violet.

After minutes of just lying there, Jae gained the courage to get up and break the news to them. Violet was conscious, and through an extraordinary amount of pain, she was trying to smile and crack jokes with Daniel who was rubbing her hand comfortingly and staring off into space. As a tear-stained Jae walked into the corridor, Daniel immediately got up and rushed to where Jae was, the note still gripped in her hand.

"Is it bad news?" Daniel asked, his eyes scanning her face, agony spreading throughout his body when Jae sobbed and shoved the note into his hands, unable to talk.

"Jae?" Violet croaked out, reaching an arm out that made Jae's heartbreak even more but she still shuffled towards her, sitting down beside her and grabbing onto her hand.

"I'm here, baby." She comforted her, as she looked back to Daniel who was now holding his head in his hands, completely distraught.

"There's no cure right?" Violet asked, her voice shaky but still trying to hold it together.

Jae planted a soft kiss on her hand, her salty tears dropping onto her soft skin as she mumbled, "no."

"It hurts," Violet cried out after a few moments silence, her body convulsing, "make it stop."

"No." Jae shook her head, defiant. She did not want to be the one to end her life, she couldn't kill her.

"I'll turn into one of those monsters." Violet had given up trying to hold on, and her tears too were now flowing out.

"No, you won't."

"Yes, she will." Daniel spoke, taking a deep breath, "I know you don't want to hear this, but there is limited time and I know I want to remember her as Violet, not as someone who wanted to eat us."

Violet held Jae's face, "Please, remember me as I was before. Remember our first kiss by the fire, how perfect that was. Remember the times we sat up all night, talking about meaningless things; learning all about each other. Remember the good times, because they are the only times that matter."

Jae thought about it, her hands shaking, blood from smashing the tubes running down her arms as she unstably stood up and went to reach her bag at the end of the corridor. Daniel sat down in her place, holding Violet's hand and giving her a soft smile, "Thank you for being such a good friend to both me and Omar. We wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for you, and I am so so sorry that I couldn't save you. You are the most caring person I know and you have made Jae become a better person, you will always be here," he pointed to his heart, "and know that I have nothing but love and respect for you."

Violet planted a kiss on his cheek, "and I am so thankful to you for everything you have done for both me and Jae. You didn't deserve to lose Omar, but promise me that you will keep her safe. I don't want you to lose her, and she can't lose you either."

He began walking away and searching for petrol and matches so that they could burn this place and effectively stop Violet from being eaten by any zombies that encountered the building, as Jae joined her again; her revolver gun loaded with only one bullet.

"I haven't said this before but I love you," Jae began, "I love your eyes, your hair, your smile, your laugh, your cuddles, your kisses; everything. I adore you, and if we weren't in the fucked up world we are living in, I would swoop you up and marry you right now. I can think of nothing better, even now, of spending the rest of my life with you and it breaks my heart to think of what my future will be."

"And I would love nothing more than to marry you, see how the rest of our lives would play out but that isn't the world we live in and facing up to reality, I haven't got long left. But in my final moments, I will love you so much you will be full of love for the rest of your life; I don't want you to worry about me nor think about me often. Your survival is most important." Violet's breaths were becoming more shallow but it didn't stop Jae from reaching forward to entangle themselves in a kiss, their saliva mixing as their tongues danced together. The kiss only lasted a short few seconds, with Violet pulling back because she was out of breath.

The two sat in silence simply holding hands for a while, trying to maintain the calmness of the situation before Violet whispered, "I can't see. M-my vision, it's gone."

"I'm here baby, still here." Jae's voice was also hushed as she cocked the gun and bit her lip.

"I'm scared," Violet began to weep as Jae lifted the gun up to her face, "I don't want it to hurt."

"It won't baby, I'm here. Always here. I love you through everything, just know that-" Jae pulled the trigger, and let out a scream as she did so falling to the floor with guilt. Jae couldn't bring herself to look at what she had done to Violet's beautiful face and soon felt herself being pulled up by a strong force beside her.

Daniel cradled her in his arms, trying to soothe her as she sobbed heavily her salty tears falling down her cheeks. "You did the right thing." He kept whispering in her ear, and eventually, she calmed down her sobs turning into small hiccups. "I have the petrol."

Jae understood what he meant by this and let him stand up as he doused the floor with gasoline, the strong fumes filling her nostrils as she looked everywhere but at Violet's body. It felt like forever that Daniel was spreading it down the corridor but when he was done he passed the matches to Jae and began to walk towards the stairs, "it's your goodbye."

Looking up to the sky, she wondered if there really was a heaven and if Violet could see her now. She sent a kiss upwards, and as she stepped to the end of the hall she finally looked over to her body. Maybe she was just imagining it, but Violet looked like she was smiling, in one hand holding onto the bracelet that Jae had given her, and hoping she had found peace; Jae lit the match and dropped it.

Daniel was waiting outside, beside a small car he had found and hot-wired, he deeply sighed when he saw the flash of the fire followed by Jae running out of the building; knowing that they had both failed in keeping the two people they cared about most safe.

"Ready to go?" He asked as he opened the door for Jae to get in with the supplies.

"To go where?"

"To survive." He asserted, slamming his car door and pressing his foot down on the pedal, pulling away from the burning building. He briefly looked over at Jae, who seemed a little pale, but with her decisive nod, he pushed his foot down on the accelerator and began speeding down the highway.

But back in the burning building, the flames were tearing apart all the work done by the fireflies, except one leaflet, hung high on the noticeboard on every single room which read; NEW DISCOVERY, INFECTION SPREADS BY FLUID. DO NOT DO A BLOOD TRANSFUSION, KISS OR LET INFECTED SPIT ON YOU. IF THIS HAPPENS, ADMINISTER CURE AND PLACE YOURSELF IN QUARANTINE.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the end ;)


End file.
